The statistics showed Northwestern dominated. Yet once again the Wildcats found themselves in a nailbiter.
No. 16 NU (7-1-4, 1-0-1 Big Ten) did the right things against Western Illinois (3-8-0), controlling possession for most of the game and shooting 20 shots, eight on goal, compared to only seven overall for the Leathernecks. But they still only eked out a 3-2 come-from-behind victory - the Cats’ 17th consecutive win which came by only one goal.
“Sometimes you play really well and win,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “Sometimes you play just good enough for the win.”
The Cats started off strong when sophomore forward Oliver Kupe skimmed a header over the crossbar 45 seconds into the game. Kupe and junior striker Matt Eliason repeatedly intercepted passes from the less athletic Western Illinois defense, leading to multiple two-on-one breakaways, but the two couldn’t finish.
“We wanted to jump on them early,” Eliason said. “They’re coming off a four-hour bus ride.”
When Western Illinois finally got the ball on NU’s half of the field, it made the opportunity count. A ball that dinged around in the box in the 11th minute ended up at the feet of Adam Rappin, who beat NU senior keeper Misha Rosenthal, for an early 1-0 lead.
“They caught us by surprise,” freshman midfielder Chris Ritter said, “On their first attack, they just put one in, and we were all kind of shell-shocked.”
Six minutes later, the Cats answered when Eliason beat his defender in reaching a through ball and had only the keeper to beat for the last 20 yards. He slotted the ball into the bottom corner for his Big Ten-leading 10th goal on the season.
The Cats would hold Western Illinois shotless for nearly the rest of the half, but in the 43rd minute, its second shot of the game had the same result as the first: substitute David Puka had a little bit of space at the top of the box and found the top-right corner of the net for his first goal of the year, giving Western Illinois the lead and sending NU into the half with a deficit.
“We made them look good with some loose defending on the second goal,” Ritter said.
The second half was a different story. Rosenthal, who didn’t record a single save in the first half, saved all three shots on goal in the second. Ritter’s header in the 50th minute – the first of his career – knotted the game up, and a screamer from the top of the box by junior Piero Bellizzi gave the Cats a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Cats walked away with a victory they didn’t necessarily feel was earned.
“I don’t feel as good as I usually do with a win,” senior defender Mark Blades said. “We wanted to come out and take care of business, but they got us on our heels.”
Offensively, the team was disappointed because it had 20 shots, many of which were good opportunities, and only beat the keeper three times. The team was proud its defense held the opposition to seven shots and two serious scoring opportunities, but were worried that both of those attempts ended up in the back of the net.
“We’ve got to put the pressure on the ball,” Lenahan said. “If we’re a little more unselfish, we could’ve had a couple more goals.”
At the end of the day, the team got the result they wanted and walked off the field with a win against an outmatched opponent.
And a defensive-minded midfielder found out what it was like to find the back of the net.
“It’s a lot more fun scoring goals than playing defense,” Ritter said.[email protected]
