As Northwestern took on No. 18 Michigan Friday night in Martin Stadium, graduate student defender Bryce LeBel trotted into newfound territory ahead of kickoff on Senior Night. The Louisville transfer said he came to Evanston for moments like these — to play consequential minutes on a championship-caliber squad.
With graduate student midfielder Joe Suchecki unavailable due to injury, LeBel slotted in at holding central midfield in coach Russell Payne’s starting XI.
In his team’s most pivotal fixture to date, LeBel logged a full 90 minutes as the Wildcats (8-5-1, 2-4-1 Big Ten) defeated the Wolverines (6-3-4, 1-3-3 Big Ten) 1-0 in a conference-table-vaulting victory.
“Bryce stepped into the center mid role, and he was fantastic today,” graduate student center back Reese Mayer said. “Ninety minutes from a guy who maybe hasn’t gotten all the minutes he’s looking forward to, but you plug him in and he (puts in) a fantastic performance. That’s just what we’re looking for this year — guys to step up in opportunities where maybe they’ve been shy this year.”
LeBel, who didn’t play in his team’s goalless draw against Wisconsin Tuesday, said his coaches instilled confidence he could execute the task at hand.
Although he typically operates as a defender, LeBel helped shore up the middle of the park, winning defensive duels and fueling distributive play throughout Friday’s match.
“With the players here, training is so competitive every day,” LeBel said. “It’s keeping me sharp every day, and I’m always ready to have that ‘next man up’ mentality. I’m ready whenever my number is called.”
The match marked Payne’s first-ever ranked win at NU and the program’s first time taking down Michigan since 2016. The team also avenged a pair of losses to a squad that ended its 2023 season in the Big Ten tournament’s opening round.
Behind junior center back Nigel Prince, Reese Mayer, sophomore right back Bryant Mayer and sophomore left back Fritz Volmar, the ’Cats pitched their third consecutive clean sheet. The Wolverines didn’t record a shot on goal throughout the contest.
“I’ve said it all season, coach (Payne) challenges 27 dogs,” Reese Mayer said. “A backline is never a true reflection of how many goals get scored. If the forwards, the wingers and the midfielders aren’t doing the work, we don’t stand a chance … We just didn’t let anything through.”
While NU needed the first half to elapse in its Tuesday tilt before generating attacking sparks, the ’Cats charged deep into the opposing half from the opening whistle. Payne’s group had Michigan on the backfoot as senior midfielder Collin McCamy and Bryant Mayer fronted the ball for a 22nd-minute free kick.
After several sequences of hectic play, junior midfielder Jayvin Van Deventer connected with Bryant Mayer on the right flank. The outside back whipped in his patented curved cross, which sophomore midfielder Tyler Glassberg headed home. The feed extended Bryant Mayer’s team-high assist tally to six this season.
Five minutes after Glassberg’s breakthrough, Wolverine defender Dylan Davis darted beyond the NU backline in a seemingly menacing counterattack. However, LeBel executed a crunching slide tackle, negating the visitors’ most potent chance of the half.
“He was a force multiplier,” Payne said of LeBel. “He was a difference-maker tonight. He elevated the team. He elevated everybody else’s performance by maximizing his role.”
Tensions had flared in the first half, with the teams accumulating 15 total fouls in the first 45 minutes. But, the ’Cats upped the physicality in the second frame as they defended a slim 1-0 margin. By the final whistle, the foul count reached 39.
Just 26 seconds after the break, Glassberg had designs on a double, but Michigan goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson stonewalled the sophomore’s shot. From that point, both teams traded blows, but neither group manufactured another clean look at goal.
When searching for an insurance goal became secondary to fending off the Wolverines’ late equalizing push, Payne substituted in freshman defender Luke Shreiner to play as a fifth backline member during the final stretch.
“That 45 minutes took 70 minutes,” Payne said. “That’s something we can improve and mature in terms of closing out a game. But overall, on an emotional night — senior night — a game that had massive implications as far as moving up the league table, these guys were really dialed in and controlled. We practiced that today in the locker room, staying composed and breathing.”
NU will enter what Payne deemed “another one-game season” ahead of next Friday’s road clash with No. 5 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes (10-1-2, 5-1-1 Big Ten) are unbeaten in eight home matches this season.
“We expect it to be the most challenging game of the season,” Payne said. “We’ve looked at the last four games as one-game seasons. We haven’t looked past anybody. So, we have a seven-day season coming up. Ohio State is as good as anybody we’ve played this year, but what’s more important is how we play in the next seven days leading up to the game.”
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