Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Look to Close With Wins
10/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - To hear Northwestern women's soccer coach Jenny Haigh, although Big Ten play has finished for the season the Wildcats are playing for plenty in this, the final regular-season weekend of the 2003 campaign.
Northwestern heads up Interstate 94 this weekend to Milwaukee; the Wildcats will meet Marquette Friday night at 7 p.m. and then Wisconsin-Milwaukee Sunday at 1 p.m.
The 'Cats are out of the Big Ten Tournament, which will take place next weekend in Madison, Wis. Still, Haigh feels like maybe -- just maybe -- a postseason berth can be in the offing with a pair of wins this weekend.
"Our region has done particularly well this year, and even though we didn't make the Big Ten Tournament if you look at the conference it is very strong," she said.
Northwestern certainly has results to back up its argument. Most recently, the Wildcats have a win and a tie over a pair of nationally ranked teams, and they have been ranked in the Great Lakes region all fall until this past week. A pair of wins this weekend would push the 'Cats to 9-8-1 overall, with several quality victories.
Two of those quality wins would come this weekend; Marquette (10-7-1, 7-3-0 Conference USA) may be co-champion in Conference USA by the time the Golden Eagles take the field with NU Friday night, while Wisconsin-Milwaukee (8-8-1, 5-1-0 Horizon League) recently clinched its fourth straight conference title and will be that tournament's top seed next weekend in Chicago.
"We are playing this weekend to get two good, quality wins," said Haigh. "Marquette has traditionally been a solid program that boasts a lot of good young players this season, and Milwaukee has established itself in recent years as a perennial NCAA Tournament team."
Haigh also acknowledges that the idea of looking at a winning ledger at the end of this season should provide a good deal of incentive for her players.
"I think we have made strides in the last few years," she said. "But to be able to finish with a winning record would be good for making that next step forward. Four of our last five matches have come against ranked teams, but we have come out of those with a win and a tie so the evidence is there that we can play with the best. A winning record would only add to that feeling."
Notes on the Weekend:
*NU is 1-2-2 all-time against Marquette. However, these teams have not met since the 1999 season, when the Eagles earned a 2-0 win. Three of the five matches have gone to overtime.
*NU leads the series with UW-Milwaukee, 3-2-1. The Wildcats have won two of the last three matches with the Panthers, with both wins coming on the road. Last year in Evanston, the teams played to a 1-1 tie.
