Less than seven minutes remained in the second half of No. 6 Northwestern’s contest at No. 25 Michigan State. Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats were moving the ball across the field deep in Spartan territory, looking for the right combination to get a clear shot at the goal.
Junior forward Eamon O’Neill trapped the ball just outside the right corner of the box when a slide tackle from behind caught his ankle, drawing a foul.
Mark Blades, a junior defender who had moved up to midfield to apply added pressure in the dying minutes of the game, lined up to take the free kick. The ball flew off of his foot and froze Michigan State goalkeeper Avery Steinlage.
But instead of finding the back of the net, the ball rang off the crossbar and sailed out of bounds.
“We were just a couple of inches away from tying the game up,” O’Neill said.
That was the closest NU got to evening the score, and Michigan State walked away with a 1-0 win and the Big Ten regular season title.
The Spartans (11-5-1, 5-1-0 Big Ten) scored their goal early in the second half, after Cats’ junior goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal made a save, and the rebound fell only a few yards from the center of the net. Though the NU defense swarmed the ball, Michigan State forward Louis Stephens III drilled a shot that Rosenthal caught only a piece of before it bounced just over the goal line and into NU’s net.
“I thought Misha kept us in the game and made some good saves,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “He made a fantastic play on (the goal), but we weren’t able to keep it out.”
The Spartans captured their first regular season Big Ten title on a day honoring their coach, Jim Baum. Many alumni and fans were in attendance celebrating Baum’s final regular season game as coach after 32 years on the bench.
But the emotion of the game did not lead to a particularly riveting first half of soccer, and it was not until the second half that the game reflected the atmosphere.
“In the second half they came out with a little more emotion than us,” Lenahan said.”
After the goal was scored in the 54th minute, play became more physical thanks to the ramifications of the game. Had the Cats (12-2-2, 3-2-0) won, they would have been in position to capture the Big Ten regular season title for themselves.
“They’re fighting for a Big Ten regular season championship, and we’re fighting for it too, so it’s just like everybody’s got a lot on the line, and they’re doing anything they can to win,” Blades said. “So there are going to be times when there’s going to be fouls or a couple of hard hits, but its part of the game.”
Though the loss ends NU’s bid to finish atop the conference, the team still is positioning itself to play in the Big Ten tournament following its regular season finale against Indiana on Friday.
adamfusfeld2007
@u.northwestern.edu
