As if Northwestern needed more of a reminder of the importance of Sunday’s matchup against Penn State, the Rating Percentage Index rankings released this week provided yet another proverbial tap on the shoulder.
Or maybe a kick in the pants.
The day before NU’s 2-0 loss to Northern Illinois on Wednesday, coach Tim Lenahan said he expected the team to fall in the top 30 or 40 teams.
The RPI gods were not so kind, slotting the Wildcats at 64th.
To put that number in starker perspective, NU finished last season 10th in the RPI rankings.
“This season we’ve had some great performances and some not-so-great performances,” Lenahan said after Wednesday night’s loss. “We need to work on approaching each game with a more professional attitude. We can’t have any more losses like this one.”
The RPI rankings, which are the most important criterion used to determine the 48-team field for the NCAA tournament, are compiled based on a team’s schedule and record.
Although a cursory glance at the rankings is hardly cause for celebration, it’s all a matter of perspective. As a young squad regularly starting up to five freshmen a match, NU (6-5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) has been inconsistent this season but not without promise. The RPI rankings, historically fickle and widely contentious in the soccer world, don’t necessarily spell disaster for NU considering how it has fared against some of the top-ranked teams this season.
NU’s regional rival Notre Dame is ranked 16th, but the discrepancy between the two teams is not indicative of a talent-gap.
After a slow opening start, the Cats earned a 1-1 draw against the Fighting Irish at Toyota Park in a game many of the players have cited as a turning point for the team. Senior forward Matt Eliason, NU’s all-time leading goal scorer, notched his first non-penalty kick goal of the season from a more withdrawn formation that NU debuted against Notre Dame.
Sitting higher in the RPI rankings at fourth is No. 16 Ohio State, a team NU upset in its best game of the season Sunday. The Cats possessed the ball and mounted a strong attack that yielded two run-of-play goals from forwards freshman Reed Losee and season-leading goal scorer junior Oliver Kupe.
In the back third of the field NU managed to stave off a high-pressure Buckeyes offense that blemished Akron’s perfect opening record by scoring a tying goal in the final two seconds of regulation.
“We showed how good we were against Ohio State,” junior defender Peter O’Neill said. “We know we have to play that way from here on out. We can’t afford to lose.”
NU especially can’t afford to lose to Penn State (8-4, 1-2)on Lakeside Field on Sunday if it wants to claw its way into serious tournament contention.
The Nittany Lions sit at 11th in the RPI rankings and are coming off a 2-1 upset of then-No. 18 Michigan State on Sunday and a solid showing against No. 1 Akron. Penn State pushed Akron to double overtime before losing in the 107th minute on a penalty kick.
“We know Penn State is a really solid team,” Kupe said. “But at this point every game is important in terms of getting us in good position for the playoffs. We need to win every game from here on out.”
