Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Stay At Home For Michigan State, Michigan
10/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 17, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the Big Ten season winding down this weekend and Northwestern stuck in a three-way tie for seventh place, one would be tempted to start breaking down the rest of the conference schedule and also get a peek at the tiebreaker system.
Doing so might be premature. Or a real headache.
While the Wildcats do indeed end their portion of the Big Ten season this weekend with Michigan State Friday (4 p.m.) and Michigan Sunday (12:30 p.m. as part of a women's/men's doubleheader), the rest of the conference actually has one weekend of play remaining. Matches between travel partners take place next Friday.
Adding to the convoluted equation, every team in contention for the final spots in the eight-team Big Ten Tournament field has three matches remaining while NU only has two.
In other words, a lot of things need to shake out before you can figure out exactly what could happen -- so don't even bother.
In some ways, that scenario may actually help the Wildcats out this weekend.
"Since everyone else has one more game left than us, we know we need to get points this weekend," said head coach Jenny Haigh. "That means we need wins. It's all on us.
"We're not talking about it, because we know the women feel the urgency," she continued. "There's no need to hammer it home. We are in a position where we can't worry about what other teams do, we just need to take care of our business."
With that in mind, the Wildcats face a daunting task this weekend at Lakeside Field. The Spartans (10-4-0, 5-3-0) are riding a wave of momentum after knocking off nationally ranked Purdue last Sunday, while the Wolverines (11-3-0, 6-2-0 Big Ten) come to Evanston boasting the No. 13 spot in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national poll.
Michigan and Michigan State also boast the second and third most potent offenses in the Big Ten, respectively. The Wolverines have scored 16 goals in eight matches (trailing only Penn State's 18), while Michigan State has 13.
"We've focused a lot on our team defense this week," said Haigh. "We've worked on staying compact and closing down areas of the field. As the week progresses, we'll also focus on specific areas of the field, as well as different formations we'll see.
"The biggest thing for us is to keep doing what we've been doing," she continued. "We've done a good job on the attack, and really that's the best way to keep teams at bay."
At the offensive end, Haigh has been getting help from several players. Senior Aileen Guiney has scored in three straight matches, the first NU player to accomplish the feat since Stephanie Erickson in 1997. In addition, Ashleigh Garmon got off a personal skid with her team-leading sixth goal last Sunday, and several other players have been in support of the Wildcats' wave of offense.
"It's great to have that, it's just what we need," said Haigh. "We don't have a big-time player, so we need everyone to get involved up front and they've been doing it. Our starters set the tone, and then our subs have been doing a great job of coming off the bench and keeping the level high, sometimes even stepping it up a notch."
Northwestern enters the weekend -- its second in a row at home after eight road matches out of 10 -- on an up note after last Sunday's 2-1 win over Minnesota. In that match, the Wildcats allowed the Gophers to score an early goal, but recovered with two goals before halftime en route to victory. After several frustrating outings offensively, the lift seems to be coming just in time.
"That win was really important, and not just because it kept us alive in the Big Ten Tournament race," said Haigh. "It let us know that when we play hard and keep doing the things we want to do we can get the result.
"Soccer can be a funny game, in that the better team doesn't always win," she continued. "I think that has happened to us a few times this season, and so it was nice to get the bounces in that last match. It helps with the women's confidence and reassurance."
