Women’s Soccer

Northwestern has earned at least one extra game this season.

On the back of yet another shutout and goals from their two leading scorers, junior forward Addie Steiner and senior midfielder Niki Sebo, the Wildcats (12-4-2, 6-3-1 Big Ten) left Champaign on Saturday night with a 2-0 victory over Illinois (9-5-3, 3-4-3) and a secure spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

In typical fashion, NU relied on another stellar defensive outing to power itself to a win over its in-state rival. The Fighting Illini, sporting a potent offense powered by star forward Jannelle Flaws, managed 17 shots and put seven on goal, but the Cats kept them away from the most dangerous spots on the field and sophomore keeper Lauren Clem saved every shot she faced to secure the team’s 11th shutout of the season.

On the other end, NU got off to a slow start and ceded much of the early play to Illinois. But good scouting of their opponent’s defense gave the Cats a chance to change the game in the 26th minute, Michael Moynihan said.

“We felt we could get behind their center backs,” he said. “There were things that we talked about, and it was one of the scenarios.”

Senior midfielder Jennifer Korn exploited this weakness with a lofted ball that played Steiner in behind the Illinois defense. Steiner slotted in the goal, her team-leading sixth of the season, to give NU a 1-0 lead against the run of play.

Senior midfielder Nandi Mehta said the goal had a calming influence on the team as the players worked through their early struggles.

“We could go in at halftime and say ‘okay, that wasn’t our best half, but we’re winning,’” she said. “We could make some adjustments and be all right. We weren’t chasing the game because of the way we played.”

The Cats stepped up their play in the second half and generated numerous quality chances, including several near-misses from Steiner, Sebo and junior midfielder Rachel Zampa. Eventually, NU broke through with a 72nd-minute goal from Sebo, her fifth of the season, to double the Cats’ lead.

Meanwhile, Illinois continued to create chances through long serves into the box, but Mehta said there was no doubt the back line would hold up.

“Our back five has been so solid this year,” she said. “They really just put their bodies out there, went into tackles, matched (their) physicality, everything.”

Illinois’ best chance came from the penalty spot in the 78th minute, but Clem guessed correctly and made a kick-save on Flaws’ attempt to maintain the clean sheet and seal the game.

With 19 points earned in Big Ten play, NU has punched its ticket to the conference tournament for the second straight season and will be looking to improve its seeding against conference leader, Wisconsin, in its final game. Mehta said the Cats won’t hold anything back in Wednesday’s showdown in Madison.

“We’re on a mission to finish in the top four of the Big Ten standings. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that that happens,” she said. “Everything’s on the line for this game.”

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