When Eamon O’Neill opened the scoring by finding the back of the net in the 85th minute against Penn State on Sunday, he thought he had a game-winner.
“At that point, it’s just pure joy,” O’Neill said. “When you score a goal on the road with only five minutes to go, it’s a pretty big relief.”
It looked like No. 21 Northwestern (6-1-4, 1-0-1 Big Ten) was doing things according to script, and the Wildcats looked to be en route to their fourth consecutive 1-0 victory.
But a handball call inside the box came in the game’s final minute. With only 37 seconds to go, Penn State’s Corey Hertzog was awarded a penalty kick, and he beat senior keeper Misha Rosenthal to convert the opportunity and send NU home with a draw rather than a win.
Needless to say, the Cats didn’t agree with the questionable penalty.
“That’s a really, really, really tough call to make,” Rosenthal said. “With that little time in the game and with that uncertain of a call, that’s a tough call.”
With Penn State pressing forward to even the score in the last few minutes, Hertzog attempted a pass out of the box. However, it didn’t reach its intended receiver after grazing against NU defender Cody Stanley.
Coaches and players seemed split over whether the ball had grazed his arm, and if it did, whether Stanley had intended to touch it. What they agreed on, though is this: With less than a minute left, the ball not going toward the goal and only a goal separating the teams, the handball call was too close to make.
“That’s the referee’s discretion,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “I don’t necessarily agree with it, and unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to help it.”
The call spoiled 89 minutes of a solid defensive effort from the Cats. The team hadn’t allowed a goal since Sept. 25th against Drake. Rosenthal, who had pitched two consecutive shutouts and won last week’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Award, had nine saves in the contest. He also held the Nittany Lions scoreless in two 10-minute overtime periods.
The game was an eerie repeat of the game against Drake. That night, O’Neill scored his first goal of the season: The senior broke a 1-1 tie in the 84th minute on a similar goal from just outside the six-yard box for what looked like a game-winner.
But Drake pushed the ball forward, and Drake striker Garrett Webb beat substitute goalie Jonathan Harris to tie the game at two. Overtime was scoreless for both sides.
His second goal of the season came in almost exactly the same situation – with the game in a scoreless tie, Peter O’Neill fed a ball across the box to find the other O’Neill in the box, and he found the goal’s top corner for the would-be winner.
With two goals and two brief moments of exhilaration only to end in disappointment, Eamon O’Neill said he is starting to think his seemingly clutch touch is bad luck.
“I need to sacrifice for the team,” he said sarcastically, “And just stop scoring goals.”
