Northwestern University Athletics
Finally, the 'Cats Have Come Back to Evanston!
10/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 10, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - It has not been forever since the Northwestern women's soccer team last played a home match. It just seems that way.
In fact, it has been three weeks since the Wildcats last set foot on Lakeside Field for an actual match (Sept. 22 vs. Ohio State). In all, NU has played only three matches on its home turf this season -- out of 11 matches total.
The balance shifts back home for the next few weeks, though, and just in time. The Wildcats are home for five straight matches, beginning this weekend when they host Wisconsin (Friday at 4 p.m.) and Minnesota (Sunday at 1 p.m.) in a pair of important Big Ten contests.
"Being at home is huge," said head coach Jenny Haigh. "We hope and expect there to be big crowds this weekend, because it'll be our first matches at home since the students arrived back on campus. I think our players are really looking forward to having their friends there to see them play -- it will give us a bit of added motivation."
Northwestern (3-6-2, 1-4-1) needs a little home cooking, after a stretch in which they've gone 1-5-1. The most recent outing provided a little momentum, though, as the 'Cats jumped on Indiana for an early 2-0 lead before settling for a 2-2 tie.
Wisconsin (5-5-3, 2-2-2) comes to Evanston having gone 2-0-1 in its last three contests. The Badgers boast one of the Big Ten's most lethal offensive players in Jenny Kundert, who has 17 points (5 goals, 7 assists). However, it is on defense where they are making their biggest statement -- Wisconsin has allowed just 14 goals in 13 games.
Minnesota (6-6-0, 1-5-0) has struggled in conference play this year, but the Gophers' one Big Ten win was a big one -- 4-0 over No. 9 Michigan in Minneapolis.
"I expect both teams to come out hard on us this weekend," said Haigh, who attended Wisconsin but grew up in the Minneapolis area. "We beat both of these teams in overtime a year ago, and Wisconsin certainly will remember last year when we celebrated our berth into the Big Ten Tournament on their field."
Playing four of the first six Big Ten matches on the road is tough enough. Adding to NU's disadvantage this season is the fact that they are without a travel partner -- with 11 teams in the Big Ten, a rotation is set up so that one team is always left alone for a season. This year, it has been Northwestern. So while Wisconsin and Minnesota have only the Wildcats to worry about in conference play, the 'Cats will double-dip.
"It's definitely not an easy situation, especially for such a young team," said Haigh. "But we need to learn how to be a good soccer team regardless. There is an added mental and physical sharpness that we need to deal with. But it's not like we always go through this -- each team has to work with it, and this year it happens to be us. We're dealing with it."
