Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Are Set to Kick Off
8/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 25, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - If Northwestern women's soccer coach Jenny Haigh's premonition is correct, the Wildcats will be a high-scoring bunch this season.
Heading into this season-opening weekend of home matches against Missouri (Friday, 4 p.m.) and Colorado College (Sunday, noon), all indications are she is right on the nose.
"I feel good about the way the preseason has gone so far," said Haigh recently. "The players are excited to be here, they have been working hard and learning a lot. We have a good group to work with. But we still have a lot to catch up on."
One of the things that has impressed Haigh the most has been the play of her six newcomers. Do not be surprised to see them fill major roles this weekend.
"From top to bottom I have been happy with this class," she said. "Even those who are not seeing the field are bringing a positive energy to the program and contributing. They will help us in a lot of different spots and have proven that they can be dangerous on attack if given the opportunity."
The highlight of the preseason came last Saturday, when the women met Kentucky in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Wildcats got first-half goals from Ashleigh Garmon and Tabitha Lowey, then responded to a late Kentucky goal with another of their own by freshman Kelly Sitkowski to gain a 3-1 decision. Last year, the `Cats scored three times in a match just two times.
"We are dangerous in the attacking third," said Haigh. "The Kentucky match was a good way for us to start the year, we got out well and found a rhythm. There are a few things we want to continue to refine, but Kentucky is a solid team and we showed that we could compete with them."
NU will certainly have its hands full this weekend, hosting a pair of Tiger teams that finished near the .500 mark last year (Missouri went 12-11-1, while Colorado College was 8-9-2). Missouri, in particular, advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second round out of the tough Big 12 Conference in 2003, and during the preseason the Tigers defeated Southwest Missouri State 7-2.
"I expect Missouri to be very prepared for this weekend," said Haigh, noting the Tigers will also meet No. 14 Illinois this weekend. "Their record last year was probably not indicative of how strong they were. They have a lot of offensive weapons, which is normal for them. I expect it to be an extremely competitive match.
"Colorado College will also present a challenge," she said. "This will be another good early-season match for us. In looking at the two games, they are both winnable but we need to play well to get the result. Nothing will come easy."
Some things to think about as the Wildcats look toward 2004...
* NU is 2-1 all-time against Missouri; the Wildcats got wins during the 1996 and 1997 seasons, but fell 2-0 last year in an absolute quagmire at Mizzou.
* NU is 0-1 all-time against Colorado College; two years ago, the Wildcats dropped a 3-2, double-overtime decision to the Tigers in Colorado Springs.
* Both of this weekend's opponents are nicknamed the Tigers.
* NU head coach Jenny Haigh was an assistant coach at Missouri for one season, in 2000, before coming to Evanston and taking the reins. Her boss at Missouri is still the Tigers' head coach -- Bryan Blitz.
* Eight NU players started all 18 matches last season; of that group, five return -- sophomore goalkeeper Whitney Jones, seniors Katie Gunderson and Carolyn Hack, and juniors Julie Lipinski and Tabitha Lowey.
* Jones became just the second freshman to start her first collegiate match at NU in the goal (the first came in the Wildcats' inaugural season of 1994), and set a record for minutes played in a season by a freshman with 1,664. All this, after coming to Northwestern following just three years of high school.
* Hack has started all 55 matches the Wildcats have played since she arrived on campus prior to 2001.
* Lowey has started 34 of NU's 36 matches during her career, while Lipinski has 32 starts in those 36 matches.
* Two other players started all but one match last season, and both did it as freshmen--Tori Bohannon (who was a walk-on to begin the 2003 season) and Shannon Schneeman.
* Another freshman, Katie Wright, also played in every match last season. She returns as NU's leading returning scorer (3 goals, 2 assists for 8 points).
* Senior Ashleigh Garmon enters the 2004 campaign ninth on NU's all-time list for goals, with 13. She had three goals and an assist last season; the all-time leader is current assistant coach Stephanie Erickson, who had 29 from 1994-97 -- nine more than second-place Brooke Bell.
* NU is trying to replace its two leading scorers from a year ago; however, seven of the Wildcats' 10 goalscorers from last year return. They scored 13 of the team's 21 goals in 2003.
* NU is also looking to fill the void left by the graduation of a pair of two-time first-team All-Big Ten players (Molly Greene and Aileen Guiney). The only player on the roster with all-conference credentials is Schneeman, who made last year's All-Freshman Team.
* Three players on NU's roster were also club-team teammates -- Schneeman and incoming freshmen Kelsey Hans and Stephanie Krutsch. They all played for the Tsunami Sota club team in Minneapolis; twice their team made it to the U.S. Youth Soccer national championship match in their age group.
* Hans was the NSCAA/adidas High School Player of the Year in Minnesota last year.
