The nickname “Cardiac ‘Cats” is usually saved for the Northwestern football team, but it applied just as well to the Wildcat soccer team Wednesday night.
The No. 5 Northwestern men’s soccer team (7-2, 1-0 Big Ten) had a valiant late comeback but came out on the wrong side of a nail-biter against Bradley (5-3-1), falling 3-2 at Lakeside Field in overtime.
Northwestern's Joey Calistri, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, added two more goals to bring his season total to 10, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Braves, who have never lost to the 'Cats in five total match ups.
“[There were] definitely some positives and some negatives,” senior midfielder Chris Ritter said. “We’ve had trouble in the past with these midweek games in the past. Losing to Bradley last year in a tough game and losing again this year, it’s a tough beat.”
Bradley is no stranger to taking on the big dogs, having beaten then-No. 1 UConn earlier this year, and the Braves were not intimidated by Northwestern’s seven-game winning streak.
“The first 15 minutes of the game, we were not ready to play,” NU head coach Tim Lenahan said. “I even said on the sidelines, ‘We’re about to give up an early goal.’”
And just eight minutes in, that’s exactly what happened. Wildcat sophomore midfielder Cole Missimo’s back pass was taken away by Bradley forward Christian Okeke right in stride. Okeke took two touches and blasted a shot into the bottom right corner past helpless NU junior goalkeeper Tyler Miller.
That shot seemed to wake the ‘Cats up, because it was the only shot on goal they would allow for the rest of the half. Behind the attacking of midfielders Brandon Medina and Lepe Seetane, the Wildcats controlled possession for most of the half and got several opportunities.
To Bradley’s credit, the Braves packed the box and didn’t allow the NU buildups get too threatening. Several times, the ‘Cats were able to find space for a shot, only to be blocked by the legs of Bradley defenders. As a result, the underdogs were able to take their 1-0 lead into halftime.
It was deja vu as the ‘Cats were hurt by another mistake eight minutes into the second half. NU was controlling possession when a Bradley counterattack led to a long ball towards the Wildcat box. Junior defender Grant Wilson tried to send a header back to Miller, but Bradley’s Aaron Birk slid in and tapped in the goal, giving his team the 2-0 advantage.
“That second goal stung a little bit,” Lenahan said. "That’s just a mistake in the back, and we can’t make mistakes.”
Even with the deficit, the ‘Cats continued to fight and weren’t discouraged by the tough Bradley defense. In the 77th minute, senior midfielder Connor Holloway sent a driven through-ball that caught Calistri in stride. The sophomore took a slight touch and redirected it into the bottom right.
He wasn’t done yet. With just over five minutes to go, Ritter attacked down the right side and found Calistri right in front of the net to tap in the equalizer. The comeback stunned Bradley and sent the game into overtime.
“We knew if we kept wearing them down, chances were going to come,” Calistri said. “Luckily, we were able to get a couple chances and put them in the net.”
Overtime saw the Wildcats build off of their momentum. A corner kick gave them a couple of great chances, but one shot was blocked, and sophomore midfielder Henry Herrill’s shot sailed over the crossbar.
The constant attacking left Bradley susceptible, and after one counter was stuffed by Miller, a second allowed Okeke to sprint down the left flank and blast a shot pass Miller just inside the left post and win the game.
As Bradley mobbed Okeke, Northwestern was left stung by its continued struggles against the Braves. Still, there were plenty of positives to take away. Calistri’s two goals put him into a 9th-place tie for goals in a season at Northwestern, and the Wildcats still have 11 regular-season games to go.
Even more uplifting is the fact that this is just the second loss of the season for the ‘Cats. While it hurts, it’s not one that they can’t rebound from when they play Michigan State on Sunday.
“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position thus far,” Ritter said, “so this loss isn’t the end of the world.”