By Matt BakerThe Daily Northwestern
With two fast-paced offensive teams Northwestern coach Stephanie Erickson knew Sunday’s match at Ohio State would be exciting. But she didn’t count on this.
NU freshman Alicia Herczeg scored her first collegiate goal in the 104th minute to beat the Buckeyes 4-3 in a double-overtime thriller Sunday in Columbus. The Wildcats swept their first road weekend after shutting out Minnesota 1-0 Friday on an early goal from junior Kelsey Hans.
NU (7-5, 3-1 Big Ten) netted its first goal in the tenth minute with some help from Ohio State (5-5-1,1-3). Junior Shannon Schneeman’s attempted a cross pass from 18 yards out, but a Buckeye fullback facing her own goal intercepted it. The defender tried to clear it, but the ball sailed into the net to put the Cats up 1-0.
The Cats continued attacking, adding another goal less than a minute later when Hans headed a cross from sophomore Jenny Dunn for her fifth goal of the season.
But the Buckeyes quickly fought back. Ohio State midfielder Lisa Colisson scored three goals in 10 minutes to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead at halftime.
After being outshot 13-3 in the first half, the Cats responded in the second half. A corner kick by Schneeman led to three quick shots by Dunn, Tori Bohannon and Jeanette Lorme.
Ohio State goalie Lauren Robertson stopped all three shots, but a Buckeye defender was called for a hand ball in the goal box in the 67th minute. Schneeman scored her fifth goal of the season on the penalty kick, tying the game at three.
A save from NU goalie Lauren Johnston with four minutes left in regulation sent the game into overtime. Though the score remained tied after the first 10 minutes of overtime, Erickson said Ohio State dominated play for the first session.
“We got together and regrouped, and they just changed their mindset and decided they wanted to end game,” Erickson said.
The Cats rebounded in the second overtime. Dunn raced down the right sideline and bent a pass around the defense in front of the goal. The ball soared over Hans as she tried to head it in and fell to Herzceg. After a Buckeye defender deflected Herzceg’s first shot the freshman midfielder drilled the rebound into the back of the net for the game-winner.
“It was a lot of work on a good attack by Dunn and then just good finishing in the box,” Erickson said.
While the Cats needed 104 minutes to beat the Buckeyes Sunday, they needed just 65 seconds to score the game-winner against Minnesota Friday.
After speeding past a defender on the end line, Dunn crossed the ball to Hans in the six-yard box. Hans fired a one-timer towards the goal, but Minnesota goalie Chelsey Turner blocked it. The ball bounced back to Hans, who shot the ball past Turner to put the Cats up 1-0.
Bohannon almost added two goals off of corner kicks. A header in the 31st minute hit the crossbar, and another header later in the match just missed the goal.
Playing under the Friday night lights and in front of 1,000 Minnesota fans energized the Cats, Erickson said, sparking them to play their best game of the year.
With a 3-1 Big Ten record, NU has already eclipsed its conferences win total for all of last season, where it missed the Big ten tournament and finished second to last in the conference. This season with new offense from speedy freshmen and the return of Schneeman, the Cats have been finding new offensive power each game.
Erickson said the Cats’ ability to score against any opponent has changed the team’s attitude, allowing them to win their first two conference road games.
“They’re starting to learn how to fight and not let down when things don’t go their way,” Erickson said. “We know we can score goals, and we know we’re in every game because of that. It’s just a completely different mindset this year.”
Reach Matt Baker at [email protected].
