After five matches of frustration, Northwestern has liftoff in Big Ten play.
The Wildcats (5-2-6, 1-1-4 Big Ten) cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nebraska on Sunday afternoon, doubling their goal tally in conference play and claiming only their second Big Ten win in the last two seasons.
NU scored all three of its goals from open play after managing just one in its opening five Big Ten encounters. Senior midfielder Caterina Regazzoni and junior winger Sarah O’Donnell gave the ’Cats a 2-0 lead to defend heading into halftime, and sophomore forward Kennedy Roesch put the icing on the cake as the game wound down.
“I thought we did a much better job today getting better numbers into the box, keeping our shots on target, getting second chances,” coach Michael Moynihan said post-match.
After a cagey opening 20 minutes in which neither side created any golden opportunities, the ’Cats broke the deadlock in the 24th minute, ignited by a piece of individual brilliance from junior winger Megan Norkett.
Norkett recovered the ball in the left corner and skipped past two Nebraska defenders in a flash, before picking her head up and finding Roesch at the edge of the area. Roesch struck it towards the bottom-right corner with her left foot, but Cornhusker (5-3-5, 0-3-3 Big Ten) left back Jo Sees lurched to stab it off the line.
However, her off-balance clearance went straight across goal, where Regazzoni was waiting to tap in from three yards out.
“It’s kind of an easy goal, because I feel like my teammates kind of do the work for me,” Regazzoni said. “My job is just to be ready in the box and get on those balls.”
Regazzoni nearly had a brace nine minutes later when a deep NU free kick awkwardly deflected off the head of Nebraska defender Lauryn Anglim and looped off the crossbar, eventually falling into Regazzoni’s path around eight yards out. The Wildcat captain hit it low and hard with her left-foot, but Cornhusker goalkeeper Cece Villa was able to react with a reflex kick save.
NU again found joy down the left wing in the 41st minute, but this time it was the substitute O’Donnell who dashed into space, played through by freshman midfielder Keira Kemmerley. O’Donnell latched on to Kemmerley’s bouncing pass and caught it early, sending a left-footed finish past the outstretched arms of Villa.
It was O’Donnell’s first goal of her college career after three years that have been riddled with injuries.
“It kind of just felt like a reward for all the work I’ve put in, especially through pain and adversity, to finally get that goal,” O’Donnell said. “It was pretty special.”
The ’Cats outshot Nebraska 8-2 in the first half and put five shots on target to the Huskers’ zero. They also controlled 59% possession.
Despite the statistical superiority, Moynihan said he wasn’t entirely pleased with the team’s first-half performance.
“It’s funny because we were up 2-0, and we didn’t feel like we were playing very well — and I don’t think we played particularly well in the second half,” Moynihan said. “But if we get three goals and don’t play great, I’m pretty happy with that.”
Nebraska found more of an attacking groove in the second half, creating more clear-cut chances. The best of the bunch came via forward Ava Makovicka, whose back-post header crashed off the crossbar.
NU put the result beyond all doubt in the 85th minute when junior winger Keira Wagner set Roesch free and the ’Cats’ leading scorer slotted it past Villa with her right foot.
The win moves NU up to 12th in the Big Ten table, level on seven points with Purdue. The ’Cats will have an opportunity to climb further in a Thursday road trip to Indiana, which is winless in six Big Ten matches.
“I think we’ve been playing really well in a lot of our games and just haven’t been getting the results,” Regazzoni said. “I think it’s really good momentum going forward with the rest of our games to come off of a win, so it gives us momentum for the next game to hopefully get another.”
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