Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Get to Heart of the Schedule
9/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 24, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - When the first weekend of Big Ten women's soccer action came to a close last weekend, just one of the nine teams that had played twice emerged unscathed.
Northwestern was not that team.
On the other hand, only one came out of it with two losses.
Northwestern was not that team, either.
If the first weekend is any indication, the conference will have its share of interesting results in 2003. The Wildcats were one of the first to make a mark, knocking off 2002 runner-up Michigan for the first time since 1998 Sunday.
With that in mind, head coach Jenny Haigh knows that her team heads into this stretch -- eight straight conference matches -- needing to maintain a high level.
"The big thing will be consistency; the teams that are most consistent over the season will have the most success," she said. "This is a much better conference than even a year ago, so the biggest thing is to get play at a high level and stay there."
The first chance to keep momentum rolling comes Thursday. Ironically, it comes in a nonconference matchup with Loyola. The Wildcats will meet the Ramblers at 4 p.m. on the Leonard B. Thomas Sports Complex. Loyola is 4-4, snapping a four-match losing streak Sunday with a 2-0 win at Illinois State.
"This is not a Big Ten match, but this is a city match so there is a rivalry there," said Haigh. "These kids all know each other, so there will be a lot of familiarity on the field. I am nervous about the match, definitely."
Following that, the 'Cats begin a stretch of eight straight Big Ten meetings with a Sunday matinee at Iowa. Kickoff with the Hawkeyes is slated for 1 p.m. in Iowa City.
"This is a really important match," said Haigh. "We want to put ourselves in a situation this year where we are in a position to control our destiny, and not worry about what others are doing. Iowa and us have had some great matches the last few years, and we are in a similar situation -- both programs have been near the bottom of the league and are looking to make the step up."
Iowa -- which hosts Illinois Friday afternoon -- is 0-1-1 in conference play; however, the Hawkeyes' first two matches came at No. 11 Ohio State (a 1-1 tie) and at No. 13 Penn State (a 4-0 loss).
"I expect it to be a good, close match," said Haigh.
Notes on Northwestern...
* NU leads the series with Loyola, 5-0. However, the teams have only met once since 1998 -- that came in 2001, when Northwestern won 3-0. The Wildcats have outscored the Ramblers 16-2 in the last three meetings.
* The series between Northwestern and Iowa is tied, 3-3; however, last year the Wildcats snapped a three-match losing streak to the Hawkeyes with a 1-0 win in Iowa City. In all, NU is 2-1 at Iowa.
* Senior Molly Greene scored the first match-winning goal of her college career Sunday vs. Michigan; it was just the third goal of the sweeper's NU career.
* Senior Aileen Guiney assisted Greene's goal; it was Guiney's third assist this season and the 19th of her career. She is second all-time at NU in that category.
* The shutout win over Michigan was NU's first against the Wolverines (the teams played a 0-0 draw in 2000) and the third win in 12 matches with the Wolverines. The last win came in 1998.
* Freshman goalkeeper Whitney Jones collected her first Big Ten shutout Sunday; it was the third shutout of her young career.
