Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Open Season With North Shore Classic
8/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 29, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Excitement is high as the NU men's soccer team heads into the opening weekend of the 2003 season. The 'Cats host the North Shore Classic -- which includes Vanderbilt, Evansville, and DePaul -- at the Leonard B. Thomas Sports Complex (formerly Lakeside Field).
The tournament kicks off Saturday at noon, when DePaul takes on Evansville. Northwestern and Vanderbilt will follow that up with their match at approximately 2:30 p.m. On Sunday, DePaul and Vandy will get things started at noon, followed by NU and Evansville.
The tournament will be filled with many firsts. Not only will it feature the first match of the season for all four teams, it will be the first tournament the NU men's soccer program has ever hosted a tournament of any kind.
Third-year head coach Tim Lenahan is excited for the landmark event.
"If you look at all the top programs in the country, one of the things you'll find is that they all host a tournament," he said. "It will be good for our program to get some schools here playing good soccer."
The 'Cats will also host the NU Lakefront Classic September 12 and 14, and they hope to have a few wins under their belt by that time.
Optimism is sky-high after a preseason that saw the 'Cats fall 2-1 to a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee team ranked 18th in the national coaches preseason poll and blank Valparaiso 4-0 in exhibition mathes.
"We played pretty well against both teams, but UW-Milwaukee is a very good program and our kids competed with them the entire game," Lenahan said.
Another one of the weekend's firsts will come when sophomore Brian Heckenbach makes his debut as the Wildcat's starting goalkeeper. Heckenbach is replacing all-conference goalie J.D. Martin who set the NU record for shutouts in a season with seven.
Senior captain Jeremy Cook looks to have a breakout season after a stong 2002 campaign. Jaro Pylypczak, Eric Brin, Adam Sirois, Alexander Renzi and Brad Napper are NU's top returning scorers after registering four points apiece last season.
