Oct. 17, 2012

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CHICAGO - Battling the weather and a No. 24 Northwestern team, Loyola University Chicago men's soccer dropped its game against the Wildcats, 2-0, on Wednesday night. Senior goalkeeper Peter McKeown had five saves, including a diving save on a penalty kick in the fourth minute.

"Tonight's game was a great learning experience," said junior Kyle Spoo. "Northwestern is a good team. We just couldn't pull it together tonight and unfortunately we lost this one. Now all we can do is learn from our mistakes, emphasize what we did right and continue to get better. It's time to go back to training and focus on our next match."

The Ramblers were immediately challenged by an eager Northwestern offense, giving up a foul in the box in only the fourth minute of the match. McKeown made his first save of the night, diving to tip the ball off his glove, away form the net.

The Wildcats continued to control possession during the first half, taking an 11-0 shot advantage over the Ramblers. Northwestern's Joey Calistri put the Wildcats on the board in the 15th minute, sending a hard shot just inside of the right post from eight yards out.

With Northwestern leading 1-0, Loyola's backline buckled down, holding the Wildcats to a one-goal game in the first half.

After the break, the Ramblers challenged for possession as freshman Jake Savino made several runs up the outside line, working to create opportunities up top. It was not enough for Loyola, however, as the Wildcats earned their second goal of the night in the 61st minute. Chris Ritter powered a low shot between the posts from 20 yards out, extending Northwestern's lead, 2-0.

The Ramblers posted back-to-back shots in the 86th minute looking for a final opportunity to get themselves on the board. Junior James Howe took a shot from inside the 18, just as a Northwestern defender came in for the block. Freshman Dane Bergstrom recovered the ball placing a header high of the crossbar to challenge Northwestern for the last time. Loyola ended the game trailing the Wildcats, 2-0.

"Northwestern is the best team we've played this season," said head coach Brendan Eitz. "We made some adjustments in the second half that helped us, but we just have to be more consistent with our execution. We're looking forward to playing Cleveland State next week and we're ready to take some things we learned from tonight's game to get better."

Loyola takes a week off before returning to conference play on Wednesday, Oct. 24, when the Ramblers host Cleveland State at 7:30 p.m.