Northwestern’s 2-2 draw at Penn State on Friday came down to the final seconds. 

Leading 2-1 with the clock winding down, the Wildcats (6-4-3,1-3-2 Big Ten) sought to make one last defensive stand in the last thirty seconds of the match. But as Penn State sent a speculative ball up the pitch, its prayers were answered.

Nittany Lion (5-5-3, 1-3-2 Big Ten) defender Joe Sheridan sent a cross from the right wing to midfielder Malick Daouda, who touched the ball once with his left foot before volleying it into the left-side netting with his right. 

Having scored what appeared to be a game-winner just four minutes prior, coach Russell Payne’s side had to settle for a heartbreaking draw.

Following a scoreless first hour in which both sides failed to convert multiple chances, the ’Cats struck first in the 62nd minute.

Graduate student midfielder Joe Suchecki sent a corner kick to junior defender Bryant Mayer waiting near the back post. Mayer headed the ball to junior midfielder Baraka Tarleton, whose shot down the middle marked his first goal as a Wildcat since transferring from Evansville ahead of this season. 

But the ’Cats couldn’t sustain its set piece success at the other end of the pitch nearly 10 minutes later. 

Sheridan leapt to win teammate Matthew Henderson’s free kick in the 70th minute. When Sheridan’s header hit the left post, three Nittany Lions were there to meet it, with Ben Madore ultimately tapping the ball in to equalize. 

A draw seemed inevitable as both teams scaled back aggression in their play. Then, with under five minutes remaining in the match, senior midfielder Jayvin Van Deventer cut inside from the left and fired a right-footed strike from outside the penalty area into the bottom right corner.

Van Deventer raced off to the corner and was mobbed by his teammates, uplifted by a seemingly decisive goal. However, his shining movement would soon be overshadowed by Daouda’s last-minute strike. 

For Penn State, scraping out a draw when a loss seemed inevitable was as good as a win. And the ’Cats, who briefly seemed like they would leave Jeffrey Field with all three points, had to settle for one instead. 

NU next faces conference foe Michigan in Ann Arbor at 6 p.m. Friday. 

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