Northwestern held strong on defense in a 0-0 Saturday draw with Michigan State, refusing to allow a single shot on goal despite losing senior defender Nigel Prince to injury in the 56th minute.
“I’m so proud of them. That’s the first time we’ve played without (Prince at) right center back in a couple of years,” coach Russell Payne said.
Prince played every minute possible this season before going down in Saturday’s second half.
Payne said he especially appreciated junior defender Fritz Volmar’s defensive effort. Volmar was tasked with matching up against Spartan (5-5-1, 2-3-1 Big Ten) forward Chimnosoh Okeke, who had four shots but none on goal.
In addition to Volmar’s leadership, the entire back line stepped up in the wake of Prince’s injury and the late scratch of junior defender Bryant Mayer.
“If they can’t score goals, we never put ourselves in a losing position,” Volmar said. “Having no shots on goal means they can’t score.”
The Wildcats (6-4-2, 1-3-1 Big Ten) started the offensive pressure in the third minute, taking advantage of a throw-in deep in the attacking third to set up redshirt junior midfielder Jason Gajadhar for the first shot of the game. However, the shot went straight into the Spartans’ defense, stymying the chance.
The ’Cats continued to fashion chances, with a free kick in the 10th minute by senior forward Alejandro Martinez Santamaria going straight to junior midfielder Peter Riesz, who took a shot that went wide right.
NU struggled to finish throughout the game: The team had five shots on target, but couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. Its best chances of the first half came at the feet of substitute freshman forward Aaron O’Reilly.
O’Reilly had four shots on the night, with two being put on goal. His first two attempts came in the 36th minute, by way of a through pass from graduate student midfielder Joe Suchecki that left O’Reilly alone against Spartan goalkeeper Zac Kelly. However, Kelly was able to save the first shot before parrying O’Reilly’s rebound wide of the goal.
Michigan State’s best chance of the half came in the 42nd minute. Prince made a rare defensive error, misplaying a long pass by Spartan defender Will Eby. The ball bounced right to the feet of Michigan State forward Kayden Hudson, but Prince recovered to clear the ball wide.
The second half brought more of the same, with NU maintaining a strong defense and limiting Michigan State’s chances despite Prince’s exit 11 minutes into the half.
Payne’s message at halftime was: “Keep doing what you guys are doing,” Volmar said. “(Holding a Big Ten opponent without a shot) is exactly what you want.”
Despite the strong defensive performance, the offense still failed to find the breakthrough. Besides O’Reilly’s chance in the first half, NU only had three shots on goal, with none coming after Prince’s injury.
The ’Cats have now failed to score a goal over their last two Big Ten games. Their last goal in conference play came against Maryland on Sept. 26.
Payne said the team hopes to continue working on its attacking play this week in practice.
“I want us to stay loose,” he said. “Know that we (need to) keep looking for the corners.”
As the focus shifts to a visit to Penn State on Friday, Volmar said he hopes the team can leave University Park with three points.
“We want to go into (the Penn State) game with the mentality that we’re going to win,” Volmar said. “(We’ll keep doing) what we did this week to keep the clean sheet and try to score goals.”
Email: yonizacks2029@u.northwestern.edu
Bluesky: @ywzreports.bsky.social
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