Well, it’s week 12 of this column and, in certain aspects, I feel like I am back where I was at the start of the season. I’ll keep this one shorter today.
To emulate Bryan Boanoh, who writes The Low Block (the brother to this column about Northwestern Men’s Soccer), let’s engage in a little time travel to reflect on what this season has been like.
If you were to tell me our top scorer this year would be a first-year who didn’t get substantive minutes until halfway through October, I would have thought
you were crazy. And if you were also to tell me the Wildcats were playing in the NCAA without three of their best players by the end of the year, I would have also thought you were crazy. Dropping seven of its last games in a row against some of the worst teams in the Big Ten? My mind would probably be at its wit’s end.
I feel like a broken record, but Northwestern’s 1-0 loss to Michigan State, caused by an 88th-minute goal Friday, felt like a parallel event to all the above happenings. Hope, hard work to fight to the end and then the inevitable, which derailed everything that got them to that point.
When the final whistle blew against the Spartans, all I could think about was what could have been.
I am going to take a chance and say Northwestern will come back from this 5-11-3 season stronger than it was before. It may take the ‘Cats a season or two to recover statistically from this deficit, but they have certainly grown as a team in the face of rolling waves of adversity.
There was a ton of personal growth and development on the field. I look to Camryn Freeman, who pulled five goals out of her back pocket to close out the season and rapidly ascended to become both Northwestern’s scoring and points leader. I look to Naomi Lofthouse and her physical presence in calming play down for the Wildcats, using her youth international experiences with Canada for the good of the program. I look to Keira Wagner and Alex Fallon, who assumed major roles on the field this year. Building this squad took rotational depth that felt less like bodies on the field and more like building chemistry between players who would have normally never touched the field together.
This team is strong. Yet, there’s still a question that nags at me: Could they have done better? And, if so, how?
Northwestern began its season with its classic three-back system. This formation lent itself to what head coach Michael Moynihan specializes in: a 3-6-1 lineup with an overload in the midfield due to extra winger space and a very high attacking midfielder to support the sole striker. But as Northwestern began to drop players, this system lost its potency. Sarah O’Donnell, though impressive in many facets of her game, is not a 1:1 replacement for Kennedy Roesch at the 10. Northwestern lost its steam on the attack until Freeman stepped in and up — and there was no guarantee that was going to happen.
Then, there’s the midfield question. Northwestern needed to involve its midfielders so much more on the attack. Lofthouse, Wagner and Holland Carey are all players that need time on the ball to produce. Once the team lost Ava Goodin, it felt like there were sometimes acres of disconnect between the forward line and the three central players in the midfield.
Defensive mistakes crept up on the team as the season progressed: Making quick decisions — particularly in the air — seemed to be a problem for the Wildcats. At the collegiate level, this is not only a weakness; it is plainly a hindrance. With Maddie Finnerty exiting the back line next year after graduating in June, the ‘Cats will have to figure this one out without a clear senior expert to help them out.
You can’t blame them one bit, but the ‘Cats are going to need change next year to do better. Does it start with continuing a high standard of recruitment, especially from Midwestern clubs, does it start with improving players the team already has on its roster, or — dare I ask it — does it stem from a change in behavior from Moynihan himself?
All of these questions will be answered in due course (just probably not for another nine months or so).
Thank you for sticking with me throughout this season — I know it hasn’t always been easy. Go ‘Cats!
