Northwestern put forth a strong performance against Big Ten rival Penn State to get its record back to .500 for the year. The game ended 1-1 after both teams scored in the second half, yet the Wildcats seemed to be the team clawing their way to the draw.
Within the first 10 minutes of the game, Fritz Volmar, a senior defender, was given a red card, putting NU down one of their best players and leaving them with 10 men for the rest of the game. Though the ‘Cats were down defensively, the defense played a crucial part in the draw as Penn State had almost triple the number of shots as the ‘Cats (14-5) but failed to break the game open. The ‘Cats finished with more saves than the Nittany Lions.
After a defensive first half, the Wildcats came out aggressively and got a goal on the board. Only 48 seconds into the second half, junior Gabriel Smyth scored his first goal as a Wildcat on an assist from Bryant Mayer.
For most of the second half, the ‘Cats played top-notch soccer and had some key defensive plays, like Andrew Johnson coming in for a block to quell a Penn State attack. However, in the 80th minute, the Nittany Lions would score an equalizer after an initial block on goal; Joseph Sheridan tracked down the rebound and saved the match for Penn State.
In the remaining minutes of the game, it was almost pure defense by both sides, which led to the final draw. The result stops NU’s two-game losing streak and moves it to 2-3-1 in the conference.
Next up for Northwestern is No. 10 UCLA on Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The Bruins are 7-2-4 on the year and travel to Evanston, looking to establish themselves as a premier team in the conference.