Oct. 28, 2008
Box Score
CHICAGO -
No. 6 Northwestern responded from its first loss of the season by posting a hard-fought 1-0 win at Loyola University Chicago Tuesday evening. Senior Brian Usinger's second-half goal was the difference.
Coming off a 3-1 defeat to Michigan in their regular season home finale Saturday, the Wildcats (12-1-2) put together a solid second half to surge past the Ramblers (8-5-2).
After starting the match strong, Northwestern saw Loyola control possession for the majority of the remainder of the opening half of play. The Wildcats' best scoring opportunity came a little over 13 minutes in when they earned a corner kick. Mark Blades' service went to Cody Stanley at the near post and his header clanged off the crossbar at the far post.
Each squad finished with four shots over the first 45 minutes of play. NU had the lone shot on goal in the half.
Northwestern came out of the intermission with a great deal of energy and sustained it throughout the second half. The 'Cats had multiple near-misses in the early portions of the period, including a header by Eamon O'Neill that was saved by Brian Byrne.
NU finally cashed in to take the lead at the 76:22 mark as Usinger's header eluded Byrne. Drew Ratner was credited with an assist on the play. It marked the third consecutive game that Usinger has posted a goal and the third straight tally overall for the Wildcats.
From there, Northwestern's defense returned to the form it displayed in their first 13 matches of the season. The Ramblers posted six shots in the second half, but four of the attempts were blocked by the Wildcats and none of the shots came after NU took the lead.
Loyola played the final seven minutes one man down after Tim Puttkammer picked up his second yellow card of the match following a hard foul on Peter O'Neill.
Northwestern finished with a 13-10 edge in shots and a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Misha Rosenthal made one save to earn his 11th shutout of the season.
The Wildcats are back in action at noon Central time Sunday when they participate in a huge Big Ten match at conference leader Michigan State. The contest is being televised live by Big Ten Network.