On a crisp autumn afternoon in Evanston, Northwestern opened their NCAA Tournament schedule with a 2-0 victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes.
It was a matchup of two 2016 conference champions: the best defensive team in the nation (Northwestern) from the Big Ten, and a fairly prolific offense in Kent State out of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Something had to give. Fortunately for the home side, a combination of discipline, patience and aggressive attacking football was enough to push them past the Kent State and into the second round of the tournament.
Most of the action in this one occurred in the first half, where two of the three goals in the contest were scored.