Midway through the first half, No. 2 Northwestern found itself in a difficult spot – a free kick against a Northern Illinois team terrific at defending set plays.
With the wind howling off of the lake, sophomore forward Piero Bellizzi knew exactly what he had to do.
“We got the free kick,” Bellizzi said. “Since the wind was blowing like 100 miles per hour, I knew all I had to do was tap it into the wind. When I saw it fly towards (Brian) Usinger, from my angle, I knew it was going to be a goal.”
Bellizzi kicked the ball straight on goal and the wind curved it toward the far post where senior defender Brian Usinger headed it into the back of the net.
Despite the howling winds and an opponent best described as scrappy, the Wildcats preserved the 1-0 lead to keep their undefeated season alive.
Entering the game, NU (11-0-2) was prepared for a Northern Illinois team whose strength is taking away what its opponents do best.
In Wednesday’s contest that meant taking Bellizzi and his playmaking ability out of the game.
“We like to play through (Bellizzi) a little bit,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “And they man-marked Piero to start the game.”
Combine this focus on Bellizzi with the Huskies’ stay-at-home strategy, and the Cats were forced to play into Northern Illinois’ (7-3-4) defensive strength: set plays.
But the Cats managed to make the Huskies pay, scoring on a free kick. The goal was Usinger’s first of the season and Bellizzi’s third assist of the year.
But NU was not necessarily safe with the one-goal lead.
Last year, when the teams met in DeKalb, Ill., the Cats also took an early lead, only to fall to the Huskies in overtime. And in Northern Illinois’ previous game, the team overcame a 1-0 deficit and prevailed over Hartwick.
This time, however, the Huskies would not even up the score.
Junior goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal, who did not play in last year’s meeting between the two teams because of an injury, recorded his 10th shutout of the season to further distance himself from the school’s previous single-season record.
Though he has made holding the opponent off the scoreboard look easy all season, Rosenthal said this shutout was not unproblematic.
“In the second half they kind of cluttered the middle up even more,” Rosenthal said. “And when they were still losing towards the end of the second half, it was almost impossible to play because they had so many numbers forward.”
The gusting winds made matters worse. Because of the unpredictability of the wind, Rosenthal was forced to play further back than normal so that he would have more time to read the ball.
“The wind had a big effect,” Lenahan said. “We’re sitting in the little shelters (on the sidelines) so we don’t feel it as much. So then when we walked to talk to the team at halftime, we realized how much the wind was blowing.”
NU fought through the conditions, and a top-25 RPI team in Northern Illinois, to hold on in the end and maintain its unbeaten streak.
Though it was not pretty, the Cats knew what to anticipate, and were pleased with the win given those expectations.
“We know what we’re going to get with Northern Illinois, we’re going to get a one-goal game,” Lenahan said. “That’s what we always get. Last year they were on the winning side, but we were fortunate enough to get our goal and then hang on a little this year.”
