Even before the starting whistle blew in its game against No. 2 seed Michigan State (11-3-5, 7-1-3 Big Ten) in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, No. 7 Northwestern (9-4-7, 4-2-5 Big Ten) was riding a high. The ‘Cats seemed ready to continue their winning streak after a late 1-0 win against No. 10 USC in the opening round of the tournament. Several problems, however, stood in their way throughout the game, and they fell to the Spartans 1-0.
From the first minute onwards, Michigan State laid on a heavy
press with its defensive line holding on the halfway mark of the field. This pressure was worsened by the twelfth player of the Spartans’ attack—the sun—that made it incredibly difficult for the Wildcats to see and clear balls out of the box in the opening minutes.
Northwestern goalkeeper Nyamma Nelson had to make a host of saves during this period, including an impressive one in the 10th minute where she stretched across the face of the goal to deflect a shot headed toward the bottom right corner of the net.
Though there were fewer saves for her to make as the half went on, Nelson stayed calm on the ball and distributed to her defense on goal kicks and free kicks. In the 14th minute, she sent a ball over the halfway line to forward Megan Norkett, who had a silky run down the center of the field to create Northwestern’s first real shot opportunity of the game. Norkett’s shot, however, was saved easily by Michigan State goalkeeper Noelle Henning.
There were other bright spots for Northwestern, too, in midfielder Caterina Regazzoni and forward Kennedy Roesch. The duo had one particularly good linkup in the 21st minute when Regazzoni poached a Michigan State throw-in, found Roesch for a one-two passing combination on the Spartans’ right defensive end and then again at the top of the box. Roesch tried to get a shot on target for the ‘Cats in the bottom left corner, but her attempt was blocked by a Michigan State defender.
Moments like this became more common for Northwestern in the first half as play began to shift toward the Spartans’ goal. By patching holes on defense, the ‘Cats clogged Michigan State’s channels on the attack and minimized the impact of MSU’s Kennedy Bell, the current Big Ten leading goalscorer, to just two shots the whole game.
Still, halftime statistics were largely not in Northwestern’s favor — with ten shots for Michigan State to Northwestern’s one, it was clear that the game was not in the Wildcats’ control.
The second half started optimistically for Northwestern, but an injury to Michigan State’s Mimi Hallier prompted a long pause in play to allow for her treatment. After the break, Michigan State won a free kick in the 51st minute, and from there the Wildcats never really recovered their play.
Sloppy marking by Northwestern nearly cost it a goal in the 59th minute when the ball found Bell just outside of the six-yard box, but fortunately for the ‘Cats, she sent the ball flying over the top of the net. Another scary moment came just five minutes after, when a scramble in the box off a Michigan State corner forced an unlikely Northwestern attacker in Roesch to clear the ball.
Northwestern’s luck ran out in the 73rd minute when a Michigan State defender picked off a pass from Kelsey Kwon in the Cats’ defensive end and passed to Kayla Briggs, who shot from just outside of the 18-yard box and nailed the ball into the net over Nyamma Nelson’s outstretched hands.
This goal was the culmination of a resounding amount of pressure from the Spartans, and the ‘Cats never found their footing again, falling to the Spartans 1-0 at the end of regulation.
Though the Big Ten Tournament might be over for the Wildcats, the show might not be over yet. The team is waiting to hear whether they have made it into the NCAA Tournament, with the official brackets being revealed on Monday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. CT.
