Nov. 2, 2014
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 18 Penn State men's soccer was just 100 seconds away from clinching its third straight Big Ten title as No. 20 Northwestern defeated the Nittany Lions, 2-1, at Lakeside Field Sunday afternoon. Mikey Minutillo (San Jose, Calif.) scored his sixth goal of the year in the loss.
Penn State (11-4-1, 5-3-0 Big Ten) and Northwestern (8-3-5, 3-1-3 Big Ten) played to a stalemate for over 71 minutes before Mike Roberge took a long ball, beat two defenders and scored his third of the year with 1:40 left in double overtime for the victory. Sunday's overtime game was the third straight in the series between the two teams.
The Penn State loss opens the door for Maryland to win the Big Ten title in its first season and creates a logjam at the top of the standings. Penn State leads with 15 points followed by Maryland (13); Ohio State and Northwestern (12); Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana (11); Rutgers (4) and Wisconsin (1). The eight other Big Ten teams play Wednesday night.
Northwestern struck early through Eric Weberman in the 15th minute. Cole Missimo sent a right-winged cross to Weberman at the edge of the penalty area and he hit a shot with the outside of his right foot into the lower-right corner of the net.
Much of the action was swinging Northwestern's way following its opener, but the momentum changed when Mason Klerks (Corona, Calif.) was brought down in the penalty area in the 38th minute, leading to Penn State's first penalty kick of the year.
Minutillo stepped up and rifled one to the left side of the net, but NU's Tyler Miller (eight saves) dove to make the save. The rebound fell to Minutillo who was left unmark and his follow up was saved and as the NU defense crashed in, he put home his sixth goal of the year in a frantic sequence.
The early portions of the second half belonged to Penn State, as the Nittany Lions attacked with the wind at their backs. Chances by Brandon Savino (Glen Ridge, N.J.), in the 62nd minute, Klerks in the 70th and Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) in the 78th required saves by Miller as PSU out-shot the Wildcats 5-4 after being out-shot 10-6 in the opening 45 minutes.
PSU played with the wind at its back in the first overtime and shots were even at two apiece. NU tallied two shots in the second overtime, as Roberge scored on the second attempt.
Andrew Wolverton (Atlanta, Ga.) made six saves in the contest.
NEXT MATCH
Penn State returns to Jeffrey Field to host Akron on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions will look to beat the Zips for the first time since 2004.
REMAINING BIG TEN SCHEDULE
Michigan State at Indiana, 6 p.m.
Maryland at Rutgers, 7 p.m.
Ohio State at Michigan, 7:30 p.m.
Northwestern at Wisconsin, 8 p.m.