Men’s Soccer: 2-7-1 (1-3-1 B1G)
The ‘Cats had a tough game at Martin Field against No. 1 Maryland and lost their second conference game 4-0. Going into halftime the Terps were only up 1-0, but the defense allowed three goals in the final 39 minutes of play.
Over the course of the game the Terps had 13 shots while the Wildcats were only able to get four off. This speaks to the disproportionately lower amount of offensive playing time the ‘Cats saw and their inability to capitalize during times of possession. Maryland’s players were simply faster at getting across the field and got to the ball first. The Terps controlled possession and forced Northwestern to play defense a majority of the game, but this was to be expected from the top-ranked team in the country.
A back heel pass in the 78th minute led to a Northwestern shot on goal that looked promising at first, but went just wide of the goal, and left the ‘Cats scoreless. A minute later the Terps scored again, sealing the final score of 4-0.
The men are off to Orlando this week to play UCF. The 'Cats will look to work on their team communication in this game and get their number of overall wins up before facing off against Rutgers and Notre Dame in weeks to come.
Women’s Soccer: 10-1-1 (3-1-1 B1G)
Northwestern was able to hold No. 17 Ohio State to a 0-0 tie in double overtime in Columbus on Saturday. The Buckeyes outshot the ‘Cats 6-1 in the first half, but the defense was able to hold on and stop any scoring. At the end of regulation time Ohio State drew three corner kicks, but none of the attempts were able to get through the solid Wildcat defense.
The best Wildcat scoring attempt came in the 106th minute when freshman Maddy Lucas had a shot on goal, but the ball went wide left of the post and the ‘Cats weren’t able to get any points on the board.
Junior goalkeeper Lauren Clem had a career high nine saves and now has a goal save percent of .909, putting her among the top college goalkeepers in the country. Clem is continuing to prove herself in the goal, but will need to keep it up in Big Ten games against both Michigan State and Michigan this week in order to help the ‘Cats' seeding before the conference tournament.
During the week, head coach Michael Moynihan will probably have the team focusing on offense in practice. The ‘Cats were only able to get off nine shots against the Bucks despite their 14.82 shot per game average. In order to be competitive against the Wolverines, who are known for being a strong offensive team, Northwestern will have to be even hungrier for goals.