Men’s Soccer: Northwestern closes its season strong with a 4-1 win over Penn State

An Awujo hat trick ends a disapointing 2024 season on a high note.

Northwestern won its final match of the 2024 season in dominant fashion on Sunday, taking down Penn State 4-1 on the lakefront behind a hat trick from Akinjide Awujo.

The ‘Cats were playing for pride after their Big Ten Tournament hopes were officially dashed a week ago with a 6-1 defeat against the No. 16 Hoosiers in Bloomington.

Northwestern did top the conference in one statistical category on Sunday — Awujo’s hat trick was the first in all of Big Ten play this season. The redshirt senior will now finish the season as Northwestern’s leading goal scorer with five, a mark that ranks 8th in all of the Big Ten.

However, Awujo was not the first to get on the scoresheet against the Nittany Lions. That honor went to senior Paul Son, who headed home a Brandan Clagette cross for his second goal of the season, and his first since the season opener against Green Bay.

Much of credit for the Son opener should go to Clagette, who picked Penn State defenseman Samuel Ovesen’s pocket with a nifty back-heel before delivering a gorgeous left-footed cross.

Son’s contributions did not end there. Fourteen minutes later, he assisted the first Awujo goal of the day on a poetic give-and-go to extend the Northwestern lead to two. Son controlled a perfect through ball from Awujo before turning to find the striker streaking across the middle of the box. Awujo finished through contact with a blazing left-footed strike that left the Penn State defender in the turf, and the ‘Cats were officially rolling.

Awujo’s banner day continued in the 60th minute with another banger, this time from just inside of the box. After Luke Shreiner found the red-hot striker at the top of the 18, Awujo turned to his before unloading a right-footed strike across his body to beat Penn State’s Frederick Grundin and put his Wildcats up 3-0.

Penn State clawed one back in the 72nd minute with a goal from Malick Daouda, but Northwestern wasted no time sniffing out any sliver of Nittany Lion hope.

A phenomenal Tyler Glassberg through-ball sent Awujo wheeling towards hat-trick glory, and he had no trouble getting his third, calmy rolling it past a hapless Grundin to put Penn State away for good.

It was no 2013 Luis Suarez against Tottenham (if you’ve never seen those highlights, it’s genuinely the most absurd hat trick in human history — Suarez scores from 40-yards out, off a toe-flick volley over a Spurs defender and a free kick), but the Awujo hat trick is perhaps Northwestern’s best highlight in a down season.

That will be all for Northwestern Men’s Soccer in 2024 as the Big Ten Tournament begins in two days without the ‘Cats.