Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Gearing for Big Ten Championships
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
November 5, 1998
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern has earned the No. 4 seed and will be among eight teams in a wide-open field playing Friday at the Big Ten Women's Soccer Championships at University Park, Pa.
Facing No. 5-seeded Michigan in the opening round, the Wildcats will play a rematch of one of their most exciting games of the year, a 4-2 Northwestern win Sept. 10 at Lakeside Field. NU had already reached the national ranks at No. 19 by virtue of two earlier wins against ranked opponents, but its win against Michigan helped earn the team serious national credibility.
No. 16 Wildcats (14-3-1, 6-3)
vs.
No. 24 Wolverines (12-5-1, 5-3-1)
Junior midfielder Erica Westrich (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy), freshman forward Katie Hertz (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), senior defender Kristen Palmer (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina) and senior midfielder Kathy Zimmerman (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) all scored in what was the team's second victory amid a stretch of five-consecutive wins against Big Ten opponents. The Wildcats went on to win nine in a row and achieve a ranking as high as No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
"I thought (sophomore goalkeeper) Erin Ekeberg (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) in goal was the key," NU coach Marcia McDermott said of the win. "After we went up 3-2 she made a great save, and had another at the end of the game."
"We played well defensively," said Kristen Palmer. "The best part of Michigan's team is their offense, so to beat them the defense really needed to step up. In our first game against them we definitely did that."
On Friday McDermott expects a similar-style game - end to end.
"We'll be under pressure all day," she said. "Michigan is an explosve, dynamic team."
Michigan closed out its regular season with a 1-0 win against Kentucky Nov. 1. The Wolverines lost matches to No. 15 BYU (2-0 Oct. 30) and No. 5 Notre Dame (1-0 in double overtime Oct. 23) before that. They are led in scoring by junior forward Amber Berendowsky (10 goals, five assists) and senior forward Jessica Limauro (nine goals, seven assists).
Northwestern is 2-4 lifetime against its first round opponent. In 1997, the Wildcats lost to the Wolverines 5-3 in the regular season and 1-0 in double overtime in the final match of last year's Big Ten Championships.
Other matches Friday include No. 11 Penn State (No. 1 seed) vs. Illinois (8) at 10 a.m.; Wisconsin (2) vs. Ohio State (7) at 12:30 p.m.; and Indiana (3) vs. Minnesota (6) at 1 p.m. The winner of the NU-Michigan match will take on either host Penn State or Illinois at 11 a.m. Saturday.
