If ever there were a moment, or more precisely, a look, that best encapsulates senior captain Cody Stanley’s defensive philosophy, Northwestern’s 2-1 upset of then-No. 15 Ohio State in early October would be a poetic example.
After staving off a frenzied Buckeyes’ attack to help clinch NU’s best win of the season, Stanley grinned through a post-game interview, face mask in hand, despite a broken nose, hastily sewn stitches and a blood-stained jersey.
In that moment, Stanley looked every bit the grizzled center back he has played, broken nose or not, for NU over the past three seasons.
“Defending, you have to want it, it’s not always fun or pretty but it’s got to be done,” Stanley said. “It’s not flashy at all. You’ve got to be fundamentally sound, tough, hard-nosed.”
It’s a mantra that Stanley has clearly taken to, quite literally. After breaking his nose earlier in the season, Stanley has intermittently sported a hockey-esque face mask that makes him hard to miss on the field. Intermittent, not because he has gotten his nose fixed – he is waiting for surgery after the season – but because when it comes to heading, tackling and doing the dirty work of a defender, a plastic cage that gives you double vision is the sort of nuisance that Stanley has little patience for.
“I would see two balls and just guess and pick one,” Stanley said. “The one that was actually fitted to my face was just really hard to play with and annoying, it was something they said I had to wear. Honestly, it was just a pain.”
Stanley, a soft-spoken Illinois native, is not one to mince words – or forwards, for that matter – and the face mask was something of an obstruction.
But it’s a nuisance that Stanley bore just as he plays: stoically.
Stanley caught coach Tim Lenahan’s eye as a member of local powerhouse club, the Chicago Magic, playing a role he still plays today: defensive anchor and team captain. Lenahan said it was his toughness that convinced him that Stanley was a good fit for NU.
“His background is a very working-class family like mine is, and I think he has a value system that not a lot of things are going to bother him,” Lenahan said. “As hard as he plays, his body is going take a toll. His ability to play with pain is really kind of unbelievable.”
After not seeing much action his freshman year, Stanley went on to play with some of NU’s defensive greats, including Drew Ratner and Mark Blades. In Stanley’s sophomore year, he partnered with Ratner and helped lead NU to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Since then, he has assumed a quiet dominance in the back, a characteristic that has led Lenahan to call him a ‘warrior’ all season.
Senior defender Jack Hillgard, who has filled in for injured sophomore Jarrett Baughman, said it is a description that Stanley has embodied since his club days. Hillgard and Stanley, along with junior Jason Drews, all played for the same Chicago Magic club team, and Hillgard played stopper to Stanley’s sweeper.
Things have come full circle again, with Hillgard and Stanley anchoring the center of NU’s back four.
“He can be a shy guy, but once you get to know him he opens up,” Hillgard said. “He’s been a leader ever since I was playing with him since (we were) 12 or 13 years old, he’s always been in charge. Maybe not always the most vocal, but he can always be a leader through how he plays for whatever team he is on.”
