Northwestern coach Russell Payne knew his squad secured a special talent from the moment sophomore midfielder Tyler Glassberg arrived on campus. Glassberg carved out a spark-plug role off the bench throughout his freshman season, and Payne rewarded Glassberg’s efforts, handing him his first career start in a Big Ten tournament match against Michigan last fall. 

With just six minutes left in a Friday night battle against Drake at Northwestern Medicine Field, Glassberg repaid his coach’s faith in full, heading in his first career goal to push the Wildcats (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) beyond the Bulldogs (1-2, 0-0 Missouri Valley) in a 2-1 comeback win.

“He’s doing what we thought he could do when we recruited him,” Payne said of Glassberg. “We knew he was a dog. He’s got one of the highest fitness test scores on the team two years in a row. He doesn’t take plays off.”

Through its first 200 minutes this season, NU hadn’t trailed, surrendering just two shots on goal. With neither side looking menacing in the opening run of play, the ’Cats looked apt to extend their defensive prowess Friday night.

However, graduate student defender Reese Mayer’s sliding challenge sent Drake’s top scorer Damian Segura to the penalty spot, and Segura tucked his 21st minute spot kick into the net.

Despite going down 1-0, Payne had preached poise in his pregame talk, and his players bought into the collective effort.

“We knew it was going to be a chippy game,” Glassberg said. “It was going to be a dogfight. … We’re a deeper team than they are, and we knew it was going to be a 90-minute game. And, at the end of the day, we were prepared for everything.”

At the halftime break, Payne said he inserted a few tactical adjustments to improve the team’s general speed of play.

With another half to flip the match on its head, Payne’s group went straight to work.

“The guys looked around, and they told each other, ‘We’re going to get back in this game,’” Payne said. “You can slowly see that our real character was starting to come through.”

The game’s physicality went up several notches as the ’Cats pushed for a potential equalizer. In just a six-minute span, each side received two bookings apiece — and each challenge possessed escalated potency.

Senior midfielder and captain Collin McCamy said his team is built to handle moments like these.

“We’ve been building this since last year,” McCamy said. “We bend; we don’t break. Late in games is when we come alive.”

Drifting toward the opposing box from his center back role, junior Nigel Prince held possession in the 79th minute. As Prince surveyed his options, Drake defender Eskil Gjerde took the NU captain down. Following a VAR review, Gjerde received a red card, gifting the ’Cats a player advantage for the final 11 minutes and a free kick in a menacing position.

Up stepped McCamy, who scored two goals during an All-Big Ten campaign in 2023. McCamy’s left-footed effort grazed the opposing wall, leaving Bulldog goalkeeper Tomas Butkovic helpless as the ball lofted into the left corner.

“I got a little help off the wall, but I stepped up and I was just like ‘I gotta smash this on frame and just get it in a place where they have to handle it,” McCamy said. “It felt great to get us rolling.”

Five minutes of nearly nonstop attacking later, three of NU’s younger contributors delivered a knockout blow.

Sophomore forward Italo Addimandi toyed with his mark on the right flank before hitting sophomore defender Bryant Mayer in stride. Mayer’s one-timed cross cut through the late August air, and Glassberg headed home the victory.

“I was so filled with joy,” Glassberg said. “It really puts a light on how hard we work as a unit. … We faced a little adversity, and we fought back.”

The ’Cats return to action Monday at UIC, where they’ll look to extend their win streak to four consecutive games.

For Glassberg — a player Payne said forms a crucial piece of the nation’s premier left side along with sophomore defender Fritz Volmar — NU is primed to turn its months of preparation into sustained results this season.

“This is a great group of guys,” Glassberg said. “We’re prepared, we have knowledge and we know what we have to do to win.”

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