Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Ready for Home Opener
9/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 8, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - After a successful trip into Big XII country, Northwestern (3-1) returns to the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex this weekend as host of the Wildcat Classic. The four-team tournament begins with NU battling Oakland (Mich.) at 1 p.m. on Friday. Kent State and Davidson will follow at 3 p.m. Northwestern's next match against Davidson is slated for Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Oakland and Kent State will finish tournament play with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.
Friday's match against Oakland will be NU's 2005 home opener. The `Cats jumped out to their best start since 1998 with four-consecutive road matches, including the team's most recent wins against Texas Tech and Baylor. But home has always been where NU is most comfortable. Since the Wildcats' field was renamed after Leonard B. Thomas, they've gone 13-3-3 at home including last years 8-1-2 home record, the third-best in school history.
Oakland enters Friday match sporting an undefeated 3-0 record with wins against Bowling Green, and Eastern and Western Michigan. The Golden Grizzlies finished 8-11-1 a year ago, including a 1-0 upset against #13 Michigan. Oakland features six international players on its roster, including three from Norway.
Sunday's match will be the first between NU and Davidson. Named one of the most improved NCAA teams of 2004, Davidson finished 12-9-1 last year in the SOCON. Senior co-captain Kara Koehrn, a first-team, all-conference selection last year, led Davidson to its only win of the 2005 season against UNC-Charlotte. Overall, the team has a 1-3 record, with losses to three top-25 squads, Duke (#12), Wake Forest (#21) and UNC (#2).
