Men’s soccer’s offense falters
Senior Dusty Page flicks the ball forward after gaining possession against Northwestern Wednesday. Men’s soccer lost, 2-0.
October 8, 2014
Men’s soccer’s winless streaked reached six games as the offense failed to find the back of the net for the third-straight game.
The Huskies (2-5-4) lost to the No. 24 Northwestern Wildcats (6-1-4) Wednesday at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
Eric Weberman, Northwestern senior midfielder/forward, netted the game’s first goal in the 43rd minute. Weberman’s shot came from outside the top of the box, finding its way past redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser into the upper left corner of the net.
“It was kind of a scrum at the top of the box,” Glaeser said. “The ball popped out to [Weberman]. [He] took a touch and then just hit a dime [in the] top corner. We had opportunities to clear it, didn’t take advantage. They had opportunities to score and did.”
Freshman midfielder/forward Sam Forsgren put the Wildcats up 2-0 with a goal in the 80th minute.
“Once again, at the end of the day there’s two moments. Two moments,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “We had two or three just as good chances as they did, and we didn’t finish them. And they have two chances, and they put them away. That is it. The other 95 percent of the game [there was] not a lot of difference between the two teams.”
Freshman midfielder Len Heinson’s shot in the 51st minute was one of the Huskies’ better chances. His shot from inside the box was blocked back into play by goalkeeper Tyler Miller but was cleared.
Senior forward Andrew Palumbo had a run down the left side of the field, but his shot in the 66th minute was turned away by Miller.
“We played well for most of it,” Luzzi said. “I think on the whole we created more good chances against a team that doesn’t give up a lot of chances. … They don’t give away a lot, and I thought we did all right to create a lot.”
The Huskies open conference play when they host the West Virginia Mountaineers 7 p.m. Saturday at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
“As I’ve said, we’ve played a very difficult non-conference schedule,” Luzzi said. “… We do that to get our guys prepared for the rigors of conference. …”