No. 9 Northwestern spent the bulk of practice this week working on goal-scoring, following a scoreless tie at Michigan. The Wildcats had nearly 20 shots in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, but failed to get a goal.
Still, coach Tim Lenahan considered it one of the best games NU has played this season.
The team followed it with what Lenahan called the team’s worst performance of the season Wednesday at Northern Illinois.
Senior defender Matt Witt started the scoring, but it was Northern Illinois forward Marcus McCarty who finished it.
Midfielder Drew Jesky chipped a corner kick off the crossbar, where McCarty nudged in the game-winning goal in the 102nd minute to give the Huskies a 2-1 double-overtime upset victory against the Cats.
The goal came 14 minutes after McCarty tied the game in the 88th minute of regulation. McCarty was able to get his foot around the defender after a cross and put the ball past junior goalkeeper Will Briley.
“We didn’t play well,” Lenahan said. “We were going to steal a win. We got what we deserved. The better team won. This was the worst performance of the year. We were outplayed, outcoached, out-everything.”
Northern Illinois (5-6-4) dominated the shots in the game similar to the way NU dominated its previous game against Michigan. The Huskies outshot the Cats 20-9.
McCarty finished with six shots and got five on goal, scoring twice.
But NU (9-3-2) made its shots count and took a 1-0 lead in the 62nd minute, when Witt scored off a corner kick from senior midfielder David Roth.
It was NU’s first goal in 262 minutes since Witt scored a last-second, game-winning goal against DePaul two weeks ago.
Despite the one-goal deficit, Northern Illinois was not afraid of their foes from the west. The Huskies controlled the match early, but NU’s defense kept the match scoreless.
Northern Illinois got three shots on goal in a span of three minutes early in the game, but Briley saved a shot from McCarty and deflected away midfielder Steve Kolzow’s attempt at goal in the 18th minute.
A minute later McCarty got a header towards Briley. But the keeper made the save, preserving the tie.
The Huskies continued the onslaught early in the second half.
Midfielder Fraser Gibson had a shot blocked in the 53rd minute, but collected his own rebound and took another shot. Briley was able to knock it out of bounds, but the Huskies took two corner kicks before the Cats could clear away the danger.
Briley made seven saves in his second start of the season replacing sophomore goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal. Rosenthal tore his MCL on Oct. 14 and will miss two to six weeks.
Even though NU got on the board, Lenahan said they were fortunate to get there.
The Cats did not generate many offensive chances and seemed to be missing some of the same “drive and intensity” the team usually has.
Lenahan said the game should serve as a warning that the team needs to refocus and prepare for the end of the season.
NU is winless in its past three games and is 2-3-1 in its past six.
“It’s our first poor performance,” Lenahan said. “Our team knows that. We need to focus ourselves for the stretch run. Our success this season will be determined in the week or so. We need to start over at 0-0, and any success we have is going to be determined in the next couple weeks.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
