Northwestern
Evansville
Wildcats Fall to Evansville, 2-1
9/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2004
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Sophomore Gerardo Alvarez (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) scored his ninth goal of the season but it was not enough as Northwestern lost in double overtime to host Evansville, 2-1, in the final match of the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic.
NU finished the tourney in third place with a 1-1 record. Alvarez and junior Sammy Semwangu (Getzville, N.Y./Williamsville North) were named to the All-Tournament team for the 'Cats.
Alabama A&M won the tournament with a 2-0 record while Evansville (1-1) was second and Oral Roberts (0-2) finished fourth.
Alvarez matched the goal total from his Big Ten Freshman of the Year campaign in the 27th minute, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage on freshman David Roth's (St. Louis, Mo./Chaminade) seventh assist of the season. Sophomore Brad North (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) also assisted on the score.
From there, the Wildcats' day went downhill.
NU sophomore Will Nicholas (Orefield, Pa./Parkland)--a Soccer America Team of the Week selection earlier this year--was lost for the season before the half after he broke his leg following a hard tackle from the Aces' Marc Burch.
Evansville (2-6-1) would then come back to tie the match in the 78th minute on a deflection by Chris Binder in the box. An NU own goal just 31 seconds into the second overtime period accounted for the Aces match-winning score.
"Today we played harder and better than we have been," NU head coach Tim Lenahan said. "You learn things in a loss that you don't get in some of the wins. Now it is time to dig in as the Big Ten season starts."
The loss was Northwestern's first in its last seven matches. The Wildcats (6-2-1) return to action at 2:30 p.m. next Sunday in their Big Ten opener on the road at Michigan State.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
1. Alabama A&M (2-0)
2. Evansville (1-1)
3. Northwestern (1-1)
4. Oral Roberts (0-2)
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Oral Roberts
Jorge Flor
Dave Leung
Northwestern
Gerardo Alvarez
Sammy Semwangu
Evansville
Marc Burch
Richard Smith
Cory Elenio
Alabama A&M
Andrew Jjombwe (Tournament Defensive MVP)
Henry Kabeta (Tournament Offensive MVP)
Mohammed Seid
Eugene Sepuya
