Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Faces Illinois-Chicago
10/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Local bragging rights will be on the line when Northwestern makes the short trip to Illinois-Chicago at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Wildcats look to get back to their winning ways after a 1-0 loss at No. 4 Indiana last week.
The 'Cats are 5-7 at this point, and six of their seven losses came against teams that were or have been ranked this season. NU is giving up only 1.2 goals each time out.
Freshmen Jaro Pylypczak (Lombard, Ill./Benet Academy), Adam Sirois (Barrington, N.H./Berwick Academy) and Dave Vargas (North Olmsted, Ohio/St.Ignatius) have been mainstays in the NU lineup, starting all 12 games. Senior co-captains Steve Jedlinski (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and J.D. Martin (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) and junior Jeremy Cook (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) have also started every game to date.
NU's freshmen class of 13 has contributed to much of the team's success, tallying 22 points of a possible 29-eight of the nine goals scored have been courtesy of freshmen.
The Flames (5-6-2) have had some ups and downs thus far. UIC went five matches (0-3-2) without a win earlier in the year but has since won its last two. Patrick Grange and Joe Morelli lead a Flames attack that averages 2.2 goals per game. Grange has a team-high seven goals and an assist, and Morelli has six goals and three assists. Ross Cain is 5-5 in goal and has a 2.18 goals-against average and 56 saves.
The game against UIC is the first of two nonconference meetings slated for this week. The Wildcats return home at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 where they will face IPFW at Lakeside Field.
