After junior forward Oliver Kupe blazed past No. 25 Indiana’s defense to put Northwestern ahead 2-0 just 17 seconds into the second half on Sunday, the game changed.
Just not in the definitive, NCAA bid-clinching direction the Wildcats had hoped.
Rather than sealing NU’s (8-6-2, 2-2-1) win, Kupe’s goal roused a potent Indiana (9-5-2, 4-0-1) offense from its attacking slumber. More precisely, it awoke forward Will Bruin, whose two goals and an assist in the second half would give the Hoosiers the 3-2 win they needed to claim their 14th Big Ten regular season championship and seriously hamper NU’s run at its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
“The guy who is probably the best player in the league strapped his team on his back and brought them back into the game,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “It was tough to turn the tables after that.”
NU has ample experience chasing a lead - it did so twice in its manic 4-3 overtime win at Wisconsin last Sunday. This time, though, NU was charged with sustaining rather than stealing the lead.
After watching No. 8 Butler trounce Indiana 4-1 on Wednesday, Lenahan said he knew the team needed to do more than just pack back and defend to secure a win.
“The Big Ten pendulum has swung the other direction,” Lenahan said. “Whereas it used to be more defense-oriented, now it’s more attack-oriented. You don’t win many 1-0 games, so yeah, we didn’t really switch back into a defensive posture even after that second goal.”
However, the pendulum still appeared in limbo during the first half.
With plenty at stake for both teams, including first place in the Big Ten, both teams played fluidly, if a little conservatively, in the first 45 minutes.
The Hoosiers were prepared for Kupe up top, forcing him out wide and patrolling his play in the middle. Senior forward Matt Eliason picked up the offensive slack by firing off four shots from his withdrawn attacking midfield position. But with time winding down in the first half, it was an Eliason assist that would make the difference.
NU’s all-time leading goal scorer launched a long throw-in that ricocheted off senior defender Cody Stanley’s head in the middle of the goal box and fell to Connor Holloway at the back post. The freshman’s header across the frame made up for what it lacked in power with precision, sending the ball past an outstretched Nate Mitchell to give NU the 1-0 edge heading into halftime.
It marked Holloway’s first collegiate goal and earned Eliason another title: all-time leader in career points.
“In the first half we were possessing really well,” freshman midfielder Layth Masri said. “We were really playing for each other.”
Just moments into the second half, senior center back Jack Hillgard lofted a ball up to Kupe, whose speed and size proved too much to contain on the dribble. Kupe slotted it past Mitchell for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
“Jack told me he played the ball blindly because the sun was in his eyes,” Kupe said. “But he played it perfectly, splitting the defenders. I knew I was in after that.”
But Kupe’s physicality was not an anomaly on the historic Bill Armstrong Stadium pitch. Bruin, a 6-foot-2 powerhouse of a forward who leads Indiana with 15 goals, would play the spoiler.
Just seven minutes after Kupe’s goal, Bruin juggled a cross in the goal box and beamed it past sophomore Jonathan Harris, who replaced junior Drew Kotler and redshirt freshman Tommy Tombridge, both out due to concussions against Wisconsin on Oct. 23.
Less than 10 minutes later, Bruin took a feed in the middle and, thanks to his dominating size, easily pushed aside his defender to fire off the tying goal. To cap off the evening, Bruin notched an assist on the final goal, a blistering shot from Joe Tolen from 20 yards out in the 79th minute.
“We just needed to not be complacent with the 2-0 win,” Masri said. “Mentally we may have just relaxed a tad too much, and then we gave up the lead because we weren’t locked into a play, and it changed the whole momentum of the game.”
Despite the loss, Lenahan said he is still pleased with NU’s technical performance – one it will look to replicate against Michigan in its last conference matchup of the regular season.
“I’m disappointed in the result,” Lenahan said. “But in terms of the performance, we showed that we can play with the best and even beat them. We’re right there with the best teams.”
