Sept. 26, 2006
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Wednesday, Sept. 27 -- 7 p.m. CT
No. 26 Northwestern (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten)
at Loyola (6-3, 1-0 Horizon)
Loyola Soccer Park
Chicago, Ill.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 26 Northwestern (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) will look to bounce back from its 2-1 loss to Penn State on Sunday when they take on the Loyola Ramblers (6-3, 1-0 Horizon) at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at the Loyola Soccer Park in Chicago. The Wildcats have won the last four meetings with Loyola, including last year's 4-0 win in Evanston.
About Loyola
A member of the Horizon League, the Ramblers are off to a solid start in 2006 with a 6-3 overall record and a 1-0 mark in conference play. Just like the Wildcats last week, the Ramblers are in the midst of a five-game win streak in which they have allowed just one goal and have had four straight shutouts. Loyola has three players each with three goals in Matt Marek, Michael Ferguson and Alex Jones. Marek also has three assists for a team-leading nine points. Sean Bond has played a majority of the minutes in goal, going 6-1 on the season with 20 saves and five shutouts. The Ramblers are coached by Brendan Eitz who is in his second season after coaching the Loyola women's team for the previous 10 seasons. In his first season as men's coach in 2005, Eitz guided the Ramblers to a 7-9-2 overall record.
Noting the Wildcats
Two late goals by Penn State were too much to overcome as Northwestern had its five-game win streak snapped last Sunday in a 2-1 loss. PSU's Barkley Miller made it 2-0 Penn State in the 81st minute before Northwestern finally mounted a comeback with Brad North's goal in the 89th minute. But despite outshooting PSU 24-12, the Wildcats couldn't muster a second goal to tie the game. Freshman Mark Blades recorded his first career assist on North's second half goal.
The Wildcats are among the leaders in several Big Ten statistical categories. Northwestern is tops in the Big Ten in assists (15) and assists per game (1.67), second in points per game (4.78) and third in goals (14), goals per game (1.56) and fewest goals allowed (8). Individually, Carl Pett leads the conference in assists (4) and assists per game (0.50) while Gerardo Alvarez is third in both categories with three assists. Junior David Roth is first with three game-winning goals and second in four other categories: total points (12), points per game (1.33), goals (5) and goals per game (0.56). Senior Brad North is fifth in the league in both points (9) and goals (4) and sixth in points per game (1.00) and goals per game (0.44). Defensively, Will Briley is second in save percentage (.811) and third in goals-against-average (0.90) and shutouts (3).
This bunch likes to save their best for last. Through nine games, the Wildcats have either been behind or tied at the half, only to come away victorious on seven of those nine occasions. Fourteen goals have been scored by Northwestern this year, with 13 of those coming in the second half. They are 4-1 when tied at the half and 3-1 when trailing. On a more impressive note, NU is 7-0 this season when holding opponents under two goals.
Behind two Brad North goals and another one by David Roth, the Wildcats did something Sept. 17 they haven't done in 13 years: beat Ohio State. Northwestern defeated the Buckeyes 3-1 and snapped a 15-match winless streak against them. Once again, the Wildcats came back from a 1-0 deficit at halftime--the third time in four games--and won. They regrouped at halftime and didn't take long to tie it up as Carl Pett fed a streaking North who fired it past OSU's keeper into the right side of the net six minutes into the half. Five minutes later, Pett fed Roth in a similar fashion, as Roth took the pass and shook his way past OSU's keeper who was charging on the play, and tapped it in for the easy goal and the 2-1 lead. Then in the 63rd minute, Northwestern added an insurance goal when North tallied his second goal of the day with an assist from Eamon O'Neill.
Senior forward Brad North was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 18 in recognition of his play in the win over Ohio State -- the second for the Wildcats in as many weeks. He also was named to the National Teams of the Week by College Soccer News, SoccerAmerica.com and TopDrawerSoccer.com. A first-team all-Big Ten selection last season, North tallied two goals in Northwestern's 3-1 win over the Buckeyes, helping the Wildcats defeat Ohio State for the first time in 13 years. Down 1-0 at halftime, North tied the game up six minutes into the second half with his second goal of the season. He then added an insurance goal, his third of the year, later in the half to give the 'Cats the 3-1 win, helping Northwestern win its conference opener for the first time in the coach Lenahan era. North is second on the team with four goals with one assist for nine points.
Junior midfielder David Roth was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 11. It was the first honor of Roth's career and the first for the Wildcats this season. Roth scored three goals to help the Wildcats go 2-0 and clinch the championship of the Adidas/Baymont Inn Invitational. Roth tallied both Northwestern goals in the 2-0 win over Bradley before scoring his third goal of the weekend against Drake in the second half to tie the game at 1-1. Roth scored the game-winner in the win over Ohio State Sept. 17 and leads the Wildcats with five goals and 12 total points.
Senior Gerardo Alvarez is still searching for his first goal of the season, but has made up for it in other areas with three assists -- good for second on the team. Alvarez, a two-time all-Big Ten selection and the 2003 Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year, ranks first on NU's all-time assist list (24), is second in points (72) and fourth with 24 goals.
Freshman Eamon O'Neill registered the first points of his career in the win over UC Irvine on Sept. 4. The Wilmington, Del. native first assisted on Daniel Chille's second half goal to tie the game and later scored the game-winner unassisted to give the Wildcats the victory. O'Neill later added an assist in the big win over Ohio State Sept. 17.
Sophomore midfielder Carl Pett leads Northwestern in assists this season with four and assisted on the game-tying and game-winning goals in the win over Ohio State on Sept. 17. He is tied for first in the league with four dishes and is tops in the Big Ten with 0.50 assists per game.
Sophomore Will Briley won the starting goalkeeper job in the preseason and is 5-2 this season with 30 saves and three shutouts. Briley shared time in goal last season with Misha Rosenthal and earned all-Big Ten freshman team honors. Briley, a starter in all nine games, has given up just three goals in his last five games and has posted a season-high five saves in three games this season. He now has six career shutouts.
Senior goalkeeper Justin Pines has also played important minutes for the Wildcats in the back-up role. Pines, who picked up his first win since the 2004 season in the win at UC-Irvine, made four saves and held the Anteaters scoreless as the Wildcats came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Pines then played the entire second half in the win over Drake, holding them scoreless as Northwestern again came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Pines has played in a total of three games this year (106 minutes) with six saves and allowing just one goal in over two halves of play.
Freshman Mark Blades established himself early and often in the Wildcat backline in the opening weekend of the season and in the process, picked up Lakeside Classic MVP honors. Blades' quickness, speed and athleticism in the back smothered the opposition's attack throughout both games. A Lakewood, Ohio native, Blades was the 2005 Ohio Player of the Year for Cleveland-St. Ignatius. Blades recorded his first point as a Wildcat Sept. 24 against Penn State when he assisted on Brad North's goal late in the second half.
There are no push-overs on this year's schedule. Twelve of the 17 teams on the regular-season slate finished last season with a winning record, with six of those teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Tim Lenahan has Northwestern's men's soccer program on the rise. The Wildcats are 7-2 so far this season, giving Lenahan a combined 31-15-4 record over the last two-plus years, a .660 winning percentage. Northwestern is coming off two of the most successful seasons in its history, going a program-best 15-6-2 in 2004 -- which included the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament -- before turning in another winning season last year (9-7-2) despite a lot of youth and injuries.
Tim Lenahan's 2006 freshman class was ranked the 21st best recruiting class in the country according to collegesoccernews.com. In addition, two of those incoming freshmen, Eamon O'Neill and Mark Blades, have been named among the "top 100 freshmen to keep and eye on" this season. Indiana was the only other Big Ten school ranked above Northwestern. O'Neill and Blades, both highly recruited NSCAA high school all-Americans, are part of a very talented six-member incoming class. Blades, a Lakewood, Ohio native who led his high school to two state championships, was named the 2005 Ohio Player of the Year after recording 17 career goals and 41 assists. O'Neill hails from Wilmington, Del. where he took his Salesianum High School team to three state championships, recording 69 career goals and 64 assists and was named the Delaware Player of the Year in recognition of his outstanding efforts.
The Wildcats return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday when they travel to Madison, Wis. to take on the Badgers of Wisconsin.
