In somewhat of an alternate timeline, Northwestern defeated Indiana in a game of the other football on Sunday.
The Wildcats implicated, of course, were on the Northwestern Women’s Soccer team, which defeated the Hoosiers 2-0 at home thanks to a brace by first-year Camryn Freeman.
Northwestern and Indiana were even on shots at 11, but the Hoosiers tallied six shots on target while the Wildcats were only able to notch two. The game was a fairly physical one, with Indiana being called for 12 fouls to Northwestern’s
five. While Indiana’s offense split the attacking burden rather evenly across its forward line, Northwestern’s Megan Norkett and Alex Fallon piloted the team’s shots figure with three apiece.
The teams opened the first half trading in possession, but the ball was primarily in Indiana’s hands (or feet). The Hoosiers played an extremely high line, putting pressure on the ‘Cats on defense and stretching out the field to create space.
At the helm of this high press was first-year Emily Graham, who is an extremely dynamic and pacey center forward.
In the 23rd minute, Graham grabbed the ball on the right flank and took down the side of the field past Audrey Alberts, slotting the ball across the box to a waiting left winger Grace Hamm. Hamm, however, made a mess of the ball, completely misshooting it so it lost all of its power and trickled into the hands of Nyamma Nelson.
In the seconds after Hamm’s shot, Ava Goodin, who, before this game, was the team’s No 3 minutes leader, went down on the field. Though she was able to walk off unassisted from medical staff, she did not come back on for the rest of the game. Northwestern, which has already had to deal with extensive ramifications for injuries over the course of the season, might have to deal with more.
The Hoosiers capitalized on the opportunity to attack the Wildcats sans Goodin. One minute after she left the field, Sarah O’Donnell was promptly pickpocketed by first-year defender Blair Satterfield, who threaded the ball once again to Graham on the edge of the box.
Fortunately for the ‘Cats, first-year defensive midfielder Naomi Lofthouse was able to come in and steal the ball back for the home side. Lofthouse had a mature game this first half in the face of intense pressure, and it showed as Indiana was unable to convert any of its shots into goals.
Northwestern’s first real chance of the opening 45 minutes came with 12:34 to go, as Megan Norkett’s cross from the left flank forced Dani Jacobson to come off her line and punch the ball out of the box. Holland Carey met the ball as it landed but was fouled on impact by an Indiana midfielder, forcing a Northwestern free kick in prime positioning. Megan Norkett, however, was unable to make something of the kick, instead sending the ball right into the 5-player Indiana wall that faced her.
After the ball careened off the Hoosiers, it ended up with Lofthouse in the midfield, who uncharacteristically slipped and was pickpocketed by senior Ella Stanley. Stanley played the ball up the field to Graham, and it was a mirror free kick incident for the Hoosiers as Camryn Freeman fouled Graham just outside of the 18-yard box.
Freeman, whose foul against Minnesota had already caused a consequential penalty for the ‘Cats, was in hot water as the referees went to the booth to scrutinize the position of the call. Thankfully for Freeman, the foul was determined to have happened outside the box, and Piper Coffield’s kick was rather lackluster for the Hoosiers.
The two teams exited the first half at 0-0. Indiana outshot Northwestern 7-3, forcing Nelson to make four saves to Jacobson’s zero. Indiana also outfouled Northwestern 6-2.
The second half started out differently for the ‘Cats, mostly due to tactical decisions by head coach Michael Moynihan. One notable decision was to put Elle Phillips, who usually plays a deeper midfield role for Northwestern, up on the forward line. Sarah O’Donnell, too, started playing deeper, and at one point she dropped back far enough to play as a leftback.
There was also a noticeable momentum shift in the second 45 minutes for Northwestern. Though Indiana put an immense amount of pressure on the Wildcats in the first half, Northwestern looked unburdened by the Hoosiers. Within the first 20 minutes of the second half, the ‘Cats were able to fire off enough shots to equalize themselves with Indiana despite being in a four-shot deficit at halftime.
In the 62nd minute, the shooting finally paid off for Northwestern. Phillips found Keira Wagner on the right side of the field, who aimed at the net but deflected the ball off an Indiana defender. The ball landed at the feet of Freeman, who, parallel to the penalty spot, fired a first-time shot into the back of the net to notch her first career goal and make the game 1-0.
Freeman doubled her lead 16 minutes later. The play began with Alex Fallon, who received the ball in the middle of the field, turned and dribbled the ball, taking three Hoosiers with her. Another defender committed to Fallon as she entered the box, creating just enough space on the left side of the box for her to slip the ball with the outside of her foot to Freeman. Freeman, just as calm as she was the first time around, slotted the ball first-time toward the far post to make the ‘Cats 2-0 up against the Hoosiers.
Despite Freeman’s brace on the day, she was replaced by Liz Cardwell in the 78th minute, one minute after her second goal. Cardwell calmed the game down for Northwestern, even though Indiana wanted to return to the precedent of a high-pressure offense it had set in the first half.
The game ended 2-0, making Freeman the team’s eighth unique goalscorer, tying her on most goals scored with Fallon and putting her equal on points with Norkett and O’Donnell at four. This all goes to show that anything can happen — and a lot can change – in 90 minutes.
The ‘Cats will need to take this philosophy with them if they want to extend their winning streak to three, as they head to Columbus, Ohio on Saturday to take on Ohio State. The Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 8 by the United Soccer Coaches College Rankings, and they’re going to be the team to beat in the Big Ten alongside Michigan State. The game will take place at 4:00 p.m. CDT with streaming on Big Ten Plus.
