Northwestern (7-6-3, 2-5-2 B1G) was unable to ride the momentum from its ranked win on Friday, falling 1-0 to Wisconsin (7-8-0, 4-6-0 B1G) thanks to an 87th-minute winner by senior forward Thomas Raimbault.
It’s now the second consecutive empty road trip for NU after the Wildcats fell in similar fashion against Michigan in their last away match. In that contest, the game-winner also came in the 87th minute.
With one game left in its season, NU now sits at second-to-last in the Big Ten.
It was a sloppy start for both teams in this one, as each side found itself offside in the early moments of the game. It took almost 10 minutes for Wisconsin to carve out the first real chance of the game. Senior midfielder/forward Ola Arntsen played a grounded cross to redshirt sophomore forward Cristobal Porter, but his first-time effort was wide of the net.
Northwestern’s first chance of the game would come around eight minutes after. Freshman forward Aaron O’Reilly cut inside and sprayed a lofted ball across the pitch. Redshirt sophomore forward Italo Addimandi chested the ball and was one-on-one with Matisse Hébert, but the Wisconsin keeper held his ground and made a strong left-legged save to keep the score knotted at zero.
By far the best chance of the half came 25 minutes in. Graduate forward Bart Muns bombed down the left-hand side before whipping in a ball that found Raimbault in the six-yard box, but the senior toe-poked his effort right into the arms of Rafael Ponce de León.
Both teams predominantly looked to the longball in hopes of starting attacks, but this strategy couldn’t reliably generate chances for Northwestern. Alejandro Martinez Santamaria particularly struggled, as many long passes came his way with him being unable to control them.
But NU was able to connect on one of those longballs late in the half. Andrew Johnson floated a ball over to the right-hand side. Addimandi eventually crossed the ball in, and Peter Riesz rose up high to meet it, but his header would be well-saved by Herbert, and the first half would end scoreless.
The Wildcats almost gifted Wisconsin its first goal of the game to open up the second half. Ponce de León miscontrolled a backpass from Baraka Tarleton and was only narrowly able to reclaim possession with Muns bearing down on him.
The theme of the second half was patience. Both sides enjoyed long spells of possession on the edge of their opponent’s 18-yard box but couldn’t fashion any true goal-scoring opportunities to show for it. In particular, Wisconsin won numerous corners early in the half, but it never really threatened on any of them.
With just under half an hour left to play, Wisconsin managed to win the ball back after what looked like a promising NU chance and proceeded to create a chance for itself. Freshman Isaac Brown-Samper streaked down the left wing before squaring it to Muns, but he sent his effort well over the bar.
Although Wisconsin had been the much more likely of the two teams to score, that didn’t mean NU was without its own chances to break the deadlock. With 65 minutes gone, Tarleton played an insightful pass that broke through Wisconsin’s midfield line. The ball eventually found itself at the feet of graduate midfielder and captain Joe Suchecki, who had both the space and time to shoot but sent his effort slightly high and wide.
With less than five minutes left and both teams struggling to grab the ever-elusive go-ahead goal, the game looked like it was headed towards a scoreless draw. Looking to change that, freshman forward Aidan Martinez picked up the ball and danced past numerous challenges before switching play to the other side of the field with a lofted pass.
Arntsen headed the ball on to Raimbault who came through on goal. Ponce de Leon rushed out, but Raimbault rolled the ball round him and tucked it away into an empty net to put Wisconsin up 1-0 in the dying seconds. The score would hold until the final whistle.
NU will host Ohio State (6-9-0, B1G 3-6-0) in the final game of the regular season on Friday, seeking to capitalize on an opportunity to leapfrog the Buckeyes in the B1G standings with a win.
