Northwestern University Athletics
The 2000 Women's Soccer Season in Review
11/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 8, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. -
With three experienced seniors, a handful of returnees, and four talented freshmen, the Wildcats looked to improve their 1999 season of 4-12-1. Early in the season, some key switches were made to the lineup to best suit the talent of the 2000 team. After being named the offensive MVP of the `Cats in 1998 and 1999, senior Brooke Bell was moved to the backfield to help control the defense. Joining Bell were freshman Molly Greene, senior Shay Unterreiner and junior Katie Kovatch. Senior Erin Ekeberg started her third straight season as goalkeeper.
The key strikers for the offense were Katie Hertz, Janelle Harwood, Kelli Wilson, Enyo Dzata, Kristen Pearce and Aileen Guiney, while Gina Napoli saw action on both sides of the field.
The season started with three tough losses, in which Northwestern was outscored 11-2. The `Cats buckled down and came back with a 6-2 win over Detroit, a 0-0 tie against Montana and opened the Big Ten season with a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Indiana, with the game-winner coming from Hertz in the 76th minute.
The tides turned two days after the Indiana victory. The `Cats played a scoreless game for 89 minutes against Purdue, but with 44 seconds left the Boilermakers stole the game and started a six-game losing streak for the Wildcats, five of which were lost by only one goal.
The `Cats broke the streak on October 13, rebounding with a 2-1 victory over Ohio State as Wilson scored the game winning goal with a bullet shot from 20 yards out. The victory lifted the `Cats for their next match, against then-No. 6 Penn State. They held the Nittany Lions to one goal, but couldn't come up with one themselves, and once again, suffered a one-goal loss.
With two Big Ten games left in the season, Northwestern had to win both to clinch a spot in the Big Ten tournament. They traveled to Michigan, where after 120 minutes of action, they left with a 0-0 tie. That was followed by a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota, and the hopes of a Big Ten tournament spot were gone.
In the last game of the season, the Wildcats looked to tie their win total from the previous year but with the situation similar to most of the season, lost to Tennessee by one goal.
Hertz led the offense with four goals and two assists for ten points. She was followed by Pearce, with three goals and two assists for eight points, and Dzata with three goals for six points. Guiney, Harwood and Wilson each ended the season with five points.
The seniors ended their four years on a strong note. Bell earned second team All-Big Ten to end her collegiate career, while Ekeberg tallied 120 saves in the net, recording her best season throughout her four years. Unterreiner battled injury most of the season but still saw action in 14 games, contributing greatly to the defense.
Freshmen Greene, Pearce, Jillian Trezza and Lindsay Stame added depth, as each played at least 16 of the 17 games. They will take experience with them into the 2001 season.
