Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Wildcats Tie Commodores, 1-1
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 30, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's Kevin Earnest's scored a goal in the 63rd minute to even the match at one apiece, and the Wildcats fought to a 1-1 tie with Vanderbilt in their season opener Saturday afternoon. The match was the second of the day at the North Shore Classic, which NU is hosting on the Leonard B. Thomas Sports Complex.
After a scoreless first half by the teams, the Commodores (0-0-1) drew first blood in the 55th minute. A ball was played across to the right side, where Kyle Lapkewych sent it back through the middle. Jimmy Stone was able to get a foot on it in front of the NU goal, slipping it just out of the reach of NU goalkeeper Brian Heckenbach and inside the left post.
However, Earnest used a nice individual effort to level the match. Working along the right side, he found his way into the box by beating a couple of defenders, then slid a 15-yard shot past Vandy keeper Conor Ellinger and inside the far post.
The contest featured two very young teams -- the 'Cats start count 10 freshmen and sophomores among their 11 starters and a total of only five seniors appear on both rosters combined -- and the youth showed at times. Vandy committed 37 fouls in the match.
"We didn't play with any sense of urgency until they scored," said NU head coach Tim Lenahan. "We are both young teams with a lot of room for improvement."
The Wildcats certainly kept Vanderbilt's defense on its toes, attempting 12 shots. Conor Ellinger made six saves for the Commodores, while Heckenbach stopped four shots for the 'Cats.
Lenahan felt as though his team played well enough to come away with the win.
"I'm not thrilled about a tie," he said. "Especially when this was a game where I thought we had a few more opportunities to get a win. I was, however, happy with the way a couple of our young guys -- like Daniel Chille, Will Nicholas, and Gerardo Alvarez -- played."
In the first match Saturday, Evansville's Ian McAuley scored on a cross from Dan Broxup in the first half, and that goal stood up as the Purple Aces downed DePaul, 1-0.
Day Two of the North Shore Classic features DePaul versus Vanderbilt Sunday at noon and the Wildcats will square off with Evansville at approximately 2:30 p.m.
MATCH SUMMARY
Score by Half
Vanderbilt (0-0-1) 0 1 0 0 - 1
Northwestern (0-0-1) 0 1 0 0 - 1
Goal Summary
VANDY - Jimmy Stone (Kyle Lapkewych), 55:44
NU - Kevin Earnest, 62:36
Shots: NU 13, Vanderbilt 8
Corner Kicks: NU 9, Vanderbilt 1
Fouls: Vanderbilt 37, NU 18
Goalkeeper Saves: NU - Brian Heckenbach 4; VANDY - Conor Ellinger 5
