Northwestern 2, Michigan State 0
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's soccer team overcame an hour rain delay to top Michigan State 2-0 at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex Sunday. John Carlstedt (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit) and Daniel Chille (Lake Zurich, Ill./Stevenson) each scored for the Wildcats. Will Briley (Longview, Texas/Longview) recorded five saves in his second-career shutout.
Northwestern scored a little more than three minutes into the first session when Carlstedt received a pass from Jaro Pylypczak (Lombard, Ill./Benet Academy) and blasted a shot past the Spartan keeper from nearly 30 yards out.
The Wildcats defense kept the Spartans from getting off many quality shots in the first half, limiting them to seven shots--three shots-on-goal.
Northwestern went into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Coming out of the break, Northwestern heightened its defensive intensity, playing the Spartans very physically to keep them out of any type of offensive rhythm.
Unfortunately both teams were taken out of their respective rhythms when the game was stopped at 29:55 due to lightning in the area.
Over an hour later both teams returned to the pitch to finish the contest. While both teams had problems moving the ball on the rain-soaked field, Northwestern went up by two when Chille scored his first goal of the season. Dave Vargas (North Olmstead, Ohio/St. Ignatius) came down on the far side of the field and played a cross to Brad North (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) in front of the Spartan goal. When the Michigan State keeper came out to defend, North found Chille near the back post for the score.
With 8:30 to play, the officials awarded Michigan State a penalty kick. On the kick, Michigan State's Ryan McMahon tried to go to the lower left corner, but his attempt was thwarted by the diving Briley to keep the shutout intact.
The Wildcats didn't allow any more shots-on-goal after the penalty kick, and Northwestern walked away with the 2-0 win.
With the victory, the 'Cats improve to 6-3 on the season, 1-1 in conference play. The Wildcats will be back in action Friday, Oct. 7, at Penn State.