“One of our main pillars is unity, and there’s nothing that exemplifies that more than what we just did.” – Andrew Millar postgame.
Not all wins are cut from the same cloth. Some wins inspire extra confidence for the rest of the season, others are run of the mill and do little to move the needle in either direction.
This win on Friday was certainly on the more impressive side for a multitude of reasons. Just looking at history, this was only NU’s second win over the Wolverines in the last 12 meetings
between the two. Peter Riesz said in the postgame that this is his fifth time playing Michigan; this team has been a hurdle that the ’Cats have failed to clear year after year after year.
Remember the game in Ann Arbor last year for a second. NU went up one to the good thanks to Aaron O’Reilly, but ultimately fell 2-1. The 87th minute Michigan winner came from a defensive mistake, as NU conceded a penalty after failing to clear a corner.
Flashback to this game, and it felt like the writers dusted off the same script from a year ago. A deft chip from Peter Riesz gave NU a 1-0 lead…
…Only for individual errors to rear their head again as Andrew Johnson, already on a yellow card, recklessly slid into a challenge near the 30-minute mark and was given his marching orders. For a ’Cats squad that has posted a weaker defensive record than years past, holding on to a 1-0 lead for over an hour seemed like a daunting task.
But if the Maryland victory wasn’t enough of an indicator, this NU team is different from years past. Michigan spent an hour poking, prodding and searching desperately for any holes in the ‘Cats’ shape up, but there weren’t any weak links to be exploited. Tre Barrett, Aaron O’Reilly and Andrew Millar filled in at wingbacks in a back five and were industrious. Josue Pfrommer was thrust back into the starting lineup for only the second time all season and looked like he had years of B1G experience under his belt.
“He trains with a ton of intensity and focus. He elevates the position every time he steps out there, so we have maximum confidence that he’s been ready to start for a while now, and it was the right moment today” – Coach Payne on Josue Pfrommer
This was really the first time all season that NU fulfilled the column’s name and set up in a low block for a long period of time, and it shut out Michigan completely. I got the chance to ask Payne about the keys to the victory postgame, and he credited the win to discipline, to sticking with the defensive approach and executing the game plan.
“We had to pressure, and then cover. Pressure, and then cover. Consistently. We blocked crosses, defended our goal mouth, and that was the key.” – Coach Payne
Is this all objectively true? Yes, of course. But, I like Andrew Millar’s responses a little better. I asked him postgame, if this roster reminded him of his national championship-winning team at Vermont.
But it goes beyond just that, not only does this team do the little stuff, it prides itself on it. The lasting image of the game for me was when Ethan Nakolo cleared the ball in the final minutes of the game to burn off some more clock, and then celebrated as if he had just stuck one into the back of the net. Every team says that they are willing to do whatever it takes to get three points, every locker room is filled with guys who believe that they can beat whoever they come up against, but it’s rare when you palpably feel those beliefs every time they step out onto the field.
MOTM: Bryant Mayer [2x MOTM, 4x total top 5]
Top 5:
Andrew Millar x2
Peter Riesz x4
Josue Pfrommer
Everit Fisher [2x MOTM, 4x top 5]
HMs: Tre Barrett, Fritz Volmar
That belief is so infectious that it has me thinking of whether or not this team should be eyeing a B1G tournament bid for the end-of-the season. The ’Cats are currently sitting at fourth in the conference, boasting the same conference record as No. 22 Rutgers who they play in Piscataway this week.
We talked about how brutal the schedule is about to get in last week’s issue, six of the seven teams NU has left to play either are or have been ranked at some point in the season. But those other teams also have to battle each other. Ohio State is winless through three conference games, winless in its last three overall, and is yet to play Maryland, Michigan State or No. 2 Indiana. NU has already beaten Maryland, and while Wisconsin will be a tough end-of-season fixture, the Badgers sit on two points after four conference games.
A win against Penn State should be a given, putting the ’Cats on nine points in conference, last season it took 17 to make it to the tournament. Regardless of the ’Cats schedule the rest of the way, is it impossible to find three wins out of six, or two wins and a draw to get into the ballpark?
Even if you say that it is, wouldn’t you say this squad has pulled off impossible already this season? The ’Cats have every right to be eying a tournament bid, and the fans have every right to be dreaming along with them.
