Nov. 3, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -
In a contest that featured an NCAA tournament-like atmosphere, No. 12 Northwestern settled for a 1-1 tie after two overtime periods with visiting Green Bay at Lakeside Field Saturday evening.
The physical battle featured a total of 42 fouls and six yellow cards.
The match was the regular season finale for the Wildcats who saw their record move to 11-3-3. On Senior Night, Northwestern had six seniors in the starting lineup for the final regular season home game of their careers.
NU had numerous quality scoring chances throughout the match, but was only able to manage the one tally thanks in part to the goalkeeping of Adam Stikl and some near misses off the post and crossbar.
Green Bay (9-4-5) was the first team to get on the board at the 34:34 mark. Tyler Rosenberg made a service from the left flank into the box where Glenn Herzog flicked the ball to David Znaty who headed home his third goal of the season.
Stikl made three saves in the opening half to hold the Wildcats at bay.
Northwestern kept the pressure on the Phoenix in the second half and it finally paid off at 65:41 as Brian Usinger fired a blast from 25 yards out to tie the score. Matt Eliason was credited with an assist on the play.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on throughout the remainder of regulation, but was never able to get the go-ahead score. The intensity remained high in each of the 10-minute overtime periods but neither team was able to post the winning tally.
Piero Bellizzi was particularly dangerous for Northwestern throughout the match, but came away without a result. After missing just wide on a shot in the early stages of the contest, he would be denied by Stikl three times while also hitting a crossbar. Bellizzi finished the game with six shots, while Eamon O'Neill had a match-high seven shots, including three on goal.
The Wildcats finished with a 19-12 advantage in shots. Green Bay had a whopping 27 fouls in the contest, compared to 15 for NU. Each team was issued three yellow cards.
Northwestern will open Big Ten tournament play Thursday in East Lansing, Mich., with a time and opponent to be determined.