By Ben LarrisonThe Daily Northwestern
CHICAGO – Angry and defeated, Northwestern walked off the field Wednesday night knowing that a major opportunity had just slipped away. It wasn’t that they had underperformed, and it wasn’t that they were unlucky, but for some reason, they just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net.
For the second-straight game, the Wildcats (9-4) did not score a goal as they fell 1-0 on the road to No. 17 Illinois-Chicago.
While NU outshot its opponent 6-1 in the first, both teams seemed to play evenly for most of the half. Illinois-Chicago looked comfortable offensively, seeming to naturally progress its way down the field. The Cats, on the other hand, looked as if they were taking any open shot that came their way, trying to force themselves out of their recent scoring slump.
“Their defense is very organized,” NU coach Tim Lenahan said. “It’s hard to go through them, so you sometimes have to shoot from long distance.”
The Flames defense interrupted NU’s trademark quick looks and one-touch passes in the early part of the game. But while senior Gerardo Alvarez led the NU charge with three first-half shots and six in the game, the Cats couldn’t score a goal.
“We’re playing pretty well right now, I think well enough to compete with any team in the country,” Alvarez said. “But when it comes down to it, we’re letting a lot of opportunities in front of the goal just go. And you need to put it away; you can’t let teams hang around.”
NU found a solid rhythm offensively near the end of the first half, but still couldn’t get one past Illinois-Chicago keeper Jovan Bubonja. The redshirt freshman made two leaping saves within a three-minute span at the end of the first half. He had five stops in the game.
The Cats offense stayed in sync at the start of the second, consistently threatening the Illinois-Chicago box. But the Flames responded, pushing their way toward the NU net with counterattacks and attacks of their own. This back-and-forth continued through the first 25 minutes of the second half. Whenever Illinois-Chicago would press, the Cats defense encased the box, keeping the ball from getting too close to the goal line and making for a chaotic scene around the net.
NU finally cracked in the 76th minute when Pavle Dundjer snuck through a crack in the Cats’ defense, deflecting off a player and past Briley into the left side of the net for a 1-0 Illinois-Chicago lead. Briley seemed to have lost the ball on the deflection, and his last-second dive was to no avail.
Looking for its first win against a ranked opponent this season, NU pushed for the game’s final 10 minutes, keeping constant pressure on the Flames’ defense. Likely killing any hopes of an NCAA tournament bid for the Cats, Illinois-Chicago was able to clear the ball enough to avoid an equalized and hung on for the victory.
“They got that goal, the deflection goal, (and) we kind of got unlucky there,” Alvarez said. “But still, that game should have been put away a long time ago.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
