Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts Wisconsin in Regular-Season Finale
11/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 6, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's soccer team hosts Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, for its regular-season finale. Northwestern looks to pick up its second conference win, and sole possession of sixth place in the Big Ten with a win.
Northwestern went 1-1 last weekend with a loss to conference-foe Ohio State on Friday, and a nonconference victory over Butler on Sunday.
On Friday, against the Buckeyes, the two teams played a scoreless first half. Ohio State struck first, netting a goal in the 58th minute. Twelve minutes later, John Carlstedt (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit) controlled a rebound fromGerardo Alvarez (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) and sent it home to tie the match at 1-1.
Two minutes later, however, the Buckeyes scored on a header, and went on to the take the match, 2-1.
Northwestern faired better Sunday at Butler. Junior forward Brad North (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) scored his eighth goal of the season just under 10 minutes into the match on a breakaway, making the score 1-0.
After Northwestern went into the break with a 1-0 lead, Butler tied the game early in the second half on a free kick.
With just over a minute remaining, however, senior Kevin Earnest (Lombard, Ill./Benet Academy) took a long pass from Alvarez, got behind the defense and scored the match-winner for the 'Cats.
Wisconsin enters the match with a 7-10 record, 1-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats currently rank third in the Big Ten in goals scored (24) and are second in the conference with 1.5 goals per contest. Wisconsin ranks sixth in each respective category.
Offensively North has led the way for the Wildcats this season. His eight goals and .5 goals per game mark rank him second in the conference in category.
The Badgers are led by Victor Diaz, who has 14 points this season on six goals and two assists.
The Badgers and Wildcats each share their respective conference wins over Michigan State. Northwestern notched a 2-0 win over the Spartans at home, while Wisconsin recorded a 3-2 home win over MSU.
In the last meeting between these two teams, Earnest scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute to lift Northwestern to a 2-1 victory at Wisconsin on Nov. 7, 2004.
The outcome of this match has important implications on each team's seed in the 2005 Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship, Nov. 10-13, hosted by Northwestern. Each Team looking for sole possession of sixth place in the conference, and a No. 6 seeding for the championship.
