Oct. 24, 2007
DeKALB, Ill. -
Ninth-ranked Northwestern was 89 seconds away from earning a men's soccer victory at Northern Illinois Wednesday afternoon, but Marcus McCarty had other ideas. McCarty netted the tying goal with under two minutes left in regulation and then tallied the game-winner in the second overtime as the host Huskies stunned the Wildcats 2-1.
Northwestern falls to 9-3-2 overall with the loss while Northern Illinois improves to 5-6-4.
The contest remained scoreless until Matt Witt put the Wildcats ahead when he scored off a corner kick from David Roth at the 62:36 mark. It was the second goal of the season for Witt and the second of his career.
Despite being under constant pressure from the Huskies throughout the contest, it appeared as though NU would escape with the victory. However, McCarty was able to notch his fourth goal of the year off assists from Blake Gotkowski and Chris Johnson with just a minute and 29 seconds left in regulation to tied the score and force overtime.
The teams played scoreless through the first overtime period before McCarty struck again off a feed from Drew Jeskey a minute and 44 seconds into the second OT to send the Wildcats home with a heart-breaking loss.
Northern Illinois finished with a 20-9 advantage in shots with Will Briley posting eight saves for NU. McCarty had a match-high six shots for NIU, including five on goal. Joe Zimka made three saves to get the victory in goal for the Huskies.
Northwestern will try to bounce back from the loss when it hosts Michigan State at 3 p.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field.