Sept. 22, 2006
Evanston, Ill. -- It was a match of intense moments, last-second heroics and see-sawing scoring. And when two overtimes had past, Indiana outlasted the Wildcats, 5-4, Friday afternoon at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex. Senior Christina Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) led the 'Cats with two goals on the match.
Northwestern (5-5) got on the scoreboard a little over five minutes into the game when Meghan Small (Bethlehem, Pa./Moravian Academy) found Foley for the first of her two goals on the day.
As it would go the rest of the game, the other team had an answer. Indiana scored less than five minutes later to even the score at one apiece when Kate O'Connell connected with Lydia Schrott off a penalty corner.
The Wildcats scored with six minutes left in the half when Megan Sieberg (Toledo, Ohio/Maumee Valley Country Day) found the back of the cage. The senior pushed the ball from the left side of the circle, picked up her own blocked shot and pushed it past IU's Haley Exner.
Schrott responded less than a minute before the half, dribbling up the left side of the field and found herself in a one-on-one situation with NU netminder Emily Kyle (San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University H.S.). Schrott, IU's leading scorer, shot the ball to the right side of the cage to lock the score at two goals entering the half.
The Hoosiers opened the scoring frenzy in the second half, when Meredith Brown assisted on an O'Connell goal nine minutes in.
Once again, Northwestern responded. Freshman Elizabeth Dobbs (Wellesley, Mass./St. Ignatius (Calif.)) took an assist from Cassie Miller (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and kept the Wildcats on the prowl.
With five minutes left in the deadlocked match, the Hoosiers put another tally in their scoring column when Brown scored on an assist from Rachel Telian.
As time was running down, Northwestern was awarded a penalty corner. With the clock at zero, Katie Charles (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) delivered the corner to Amanda Care (Newtown, Pa./Pennsbury), who held for Foley. Foley's shot was saved, but another penalty corner was called.
Same situation. Different outcome. Foley whizzed the ball waist-high past the goalie to tie the score at four and send the match into overtime.
The skies, overcast to begin the competition, had since turned ominous and the threat of tornados lurked to the west. An intense fifteen-minute overtime produced no goals by either team, launching a second fifteen-minute period.
Thunder rumbled in the distance as play continued, both teams increasing their sense of urgency. At the 93:43 mark of the match, IU's Schrott garnered her 100th goal of her career with help from Morgan Miller and put the Hoosiers up once and for all.
Indiana took two more shots than NU, but the 'Cats had ten penalty corners.
Northwestern is next in action at 10 a.m. CT on Sunday when they travel to Central Michigan for a non-conference showdown.