The drought is over for senior forward Matt Eliason.
Northwestern’s all-time leading goal scorer lived up to his title Wednesday night when he put away the first goal of NU’s 1-1 overtime tie with regional rival Notre Dame at Toyota Park.
“He’s so streaky that hopefully this one goal is just the beginning,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “Let’s just say he’s going to be much happier at practice. That’s one really good thing to take away from the game.”
It’s rare that a tie revives a team’s swagger, but the Wildcats (3-4-1) got two big performances from Eliason and junior goalkeeper Drew Kotler against Notre Dame (3-2-3). Eliason has struggled to find the back of the net all season, and Kotler’s own-goal against Michigan State left some questions about his starting role.
Kotler fended off a career-high 11 saves Wednesday night in front of a sparse crowd.
“Drew really stepped up in this game and made some terrific saves,” Lenahan said. “He really kept us in the game tonight.”
The second half proved to be the litmus test for both Kotler and Eliason after a quiet first half.
NU found itself in a familiar scoring position early on, with senior midfielder Piero Bellizzi set to take one of his signature corner kicks. His well-lofted free kick dropped in at the back post and found Eliason.
The senior, who played at Toyota Park this summer with the Chicago Fire Premier Development League, put the ball away convincingly to give NU the lead.
“It definitely feels great to get that goal and sort of get it out of the way,” Eliason said. “I was just glad I could do it here and in this game.”
Eliason’s goal opened the offensive flood gates for NU, as the team dominated Notre Dame in the midfield and both Eliason and junior forward Oliver Kupe pressured up top. Eliason looked poised to score again when he nicked the crossbar in the 67th minute on a well-bent free kick outside the penalty box.
But it was the Fighting Irish who notched the final goal of the match, capitalizing on a defensive lapse in the back third. Kotler punched away several shots on the play, but forward Steven Perry found the back of the net for Notre Dame.
Neither team scored again in two subsequent 10-minute overtime periods.
Lenahan said that he was pleased with the effort, if not the result. NU has ousted Notre Dame from the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the past two years, but this match marked their first regular season matchup since 2000.
“Hopefully we run into them later down the road and we figure out how to hold on to that win,” Lenahan said. “But this game was a great experience. The venue was great. We will be ready for them next time.”
