Northwestern University Athletics
NU Spring Season in Review
6/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
June 4, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Head coach Jenny Haigh was excited for the 2003 spring season, knowing that she had a full complement of players including numerous key veterans to work with.
"Experience was the key of the spring," she said recently during her assessment of the out-of-season practices and matches. "We have a lot of key returnees from the fall, and they got more experience which they needed. In addition, we had some women who haven't played so much in the past get some quality minutes, which was important."
"We are still a young team, and it was great to work with so many players who will get quite a bit of playing time this fall."
The Wildcats played seven matches against college competition during the spring, going 3-2-2, and also had a play-day with several club teams in the area and the annual Alumni Game.
The season started with a game against Western Michigan that was played on Long Field. The Wildcats lost that game, 1-0, despite a large possession and shot advantage. The following weekend NU took part in the Purdue Spring Tournament, defeating Miami (Ohio) 3-1 before falling to the Boilermakers, 2-0.
One week later it was the Illinois Spring Tournament, where NU tied Indiana State (0-0) and beat St. Louis University (3-0). The final competition came at the NU Spring Friendlies, where the 'Cats defeated DePaul 1-0 and tied Big Ten foe Wisconsin 2-2.
"The Western Michigan and Indiana State games were pretty frustrating, because we outshot both of those teams by a lot and they were very uneven games," said Haigh. "We were a nightmare with our finishing, which is something we need to solve; we had the same problems during the 2002 season."
While Haigh was unhappy with her team's finishing skills, she was upbeat about many other aspects.
"I thought we did pretty well off of set pieces; we were productive in that area," she said. "Also, I felt like some of the up-and-coming seniors really stepped into their leadership roles well."
Haigh was pleased in particular with freshmen Nell Compernolle and Molly Maxfield, both of whom she felt broke out and will be ready to contribute in a major way in 2003. Another wrinkle was Carolyn Hack, who moved to a centerback position to cover for the injured Lindsey Veris and did well in her new role. Veris had surgery prior to spring practices but is expected to be back in top form before the season begins in August. Another player used the spring to recover from injury; Kate Ghidinelli played in the spring but was not in top shape after nursing an injury through the winter.
The spring season also gave Haigh a chance to see how Evansville transfer Michele Magnuson will settle in with the 'Cats. After seeing her this spring, Haigh believes she will compete for major time in the backfield. "She is a nice addition to the roster," said Haigh.
Overall, Haigh was pleased with the progress the Wildcats made this spring and is anxious to continue putting things together in 2003.
"I am definitely excited to get started up again, and I think the women are too," she said. "We saw where we need to improve heading into the season, but we also saw a lot of positive things and that shows us we are not far from becoming a very good team in the Big Ten."
