By Will Moore

On Wednesday night, Northwestern (2-5-2, 0-3-0) came away with a 2-0 win over DePaul (5-2-0, 1-0-0) at Martin Stadium.

After some sloppy play from both teams early on, Northwestern broke the ice with a goal off a set piece in the 15th minute. A DePaul foul set Northwestern up with a free kick in dangerous territory. Star forward Vicente Castro stepped up and delivered a lob pass into the box that was headed in by defender Spencer Farina. 

Following the goal, DePaul pushed hard for an equalizer but was met with a strong defensive showing from the Wildcats. Northwestern’s defenders Deng Deng Kur and Quinn Dudek were the backbones for the Cats, as they went a full 90 minutes without allowing a shot on target. The pair did well to clear dangerous crosses, suppress attacks and get the ball up the pitch. 

Northwestern’s clean sheet was also in large part due to strong play defensive midfielders. Senior Richie Bennett, sophomore Rom Brown and first-year Collin McCamy dominated the midfield. Whenever Northwestern lost possession, the midfield was quick to win the ball back due to their high press and aggressive defending. DePaul’s inability to control the ball in the middle of the field forced them to go wide, where they continued to struggle against outside backs Ibrahim Obeid and Farina. 

Northwestern widened their gap to 2-0 in the 58th minute with a goal from Justin Weiss. A give-and-go with Castro gave Weiss enough space to produce a finish to the top left corner from the edge of the box.

Northwestern earned their third win of the season, improving their record to 3-5-2. The Wildcats will look to put together a similar performance on Sunday when they face Ohio State (4-4-1) at Martin Stadium.