Northwestern University Athletics
NU To Host North Shore Classic This Weekend
9/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 3, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fresh off its first season-opening win since 1998, Northwestern welcomes Butler, Iona and the College of Charleston to the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex this weekend for the North Shore Classic.
The action begins at noon Saturday when Iona faces the College of Charleston with Butler and Northwestern squaring off at 2:30 p.m. On Sunday, Iona takes on Butler at noon and NU will play the College of Charleston at 2:30 p.m.
"This weekend will be difficult competition," Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan said. "It will come down to whether or not we are able to defend well enough to limit the other teams' goal scoring opportunities and if we can do a good job of finishing ours."
Butler and College of Charleston are both coming off successful seasons that saw them nearly garner at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament. Butler returns its top five scorers from a year ago.
The College of Charleston defeated No. 3 North Carolina, 1-0, in an exhibition match on Aug. 21, and was picked to finish second in the Southern Conference in the preseason coaches poll.
Iona's head coach Fernando Barboto served as Lenahan's assistant coach at Lafayette in 1998-99 when the Leopards captured back-to-back Patriot League titles.
Northwestern defeated IPFW in its season-opener on Sept. 1, 2-0, on goals by Brad Napper (Dallas, Texas/Jesuit College Prep) and Gerardo Alvarez (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy).
"IPFW was a good opener for us after playing two nationally ranked opponents in the preseason," Lenahan said. "We finished twice and then took the foot off the accelerator. We can not afford to do that this weekend."
