Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Hosts Foes From Both Coasts
9/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 18, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern, ranked No. 9 by the NSCAA, returns home to Evanston this weekend for a pair of matches against teams from opposite sides of the country. The Wildcats take on Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m. Friday before welcoming Princeton for a noon matchup Sunday. Friday's match is being streamed live at NUsports.com, while Gametracker is available for both contests.
Friday night's game is Kickoff with the 'Cats presented by U.S. Cellular and Motorola. Wildcat head football coach Pat Fitzgerald and head women's basketball coach Joe McKeown are the special halftime guests.
Scouting Loyola Marymount
The Lions (1-1-2) have easily faced the most daunting schedule in the country to start the season. After opening with ties against No. 10 New Mexico and No. 8 Saint Louis, LMU defeated No. 24 Cal Poly 1-0 before falling to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 3-1. Following Friday's match against No. 9 Northwestern, the Lions head to No. 11 UIC on Sunday. Five different LMU players have accounted for the team's five goals so far, including Rafael Baca who had the game-winner against Cal Poly. Paul Krumpe is 91-86-22 in his 11 seasons as head coach.
Scouting Princeton
The Tigers (1-2-0) enter play this weekend coming off their first win of the season, a 3-1 defeat of Seton Hall on Sunday. Devin Muntz assisted on a pair of goals, including the game-winner. Princeton plays at UIC on Friday prior to facing the Wildcats. Sophomore Teddy Schneider paces the Tigers with two goals so far this year. Princeton finished 5-10-2 overall and 3-4-0 in Ivy League play a year ago. Princeton alum Jim Barlow is in his 13th season as the head coach of the Tigers. He has a career record of 88-88-33.
Series Information
Northwestern and Loyola Marymount have faced off just once before. The Wildcats posted a 2-0 win on the Lions' home field Oct. 21, 2005. NU then flew across the country and two days later settled for a 1-1 tie in its only previous meeting with Princeton.
NIU/adidas Invitational Review
Northwestern claimed the team title at the NIU/adidas Invitational in DeKalb last weekend, defeating Eastern Illinois and Xavier by identical 3-0 scores. The Wildcats and EIU played through a scoreless first half before Matt Eliason took over, scoring three second-half goals to net a hat trick. Misha Rosenthal made four saves to earn the shutout in goal. On Sunday against Xavier, Mark Blades gave NU the lead with a goal in the 10th minute of play. The Wildcats maintained the slim advantage until Blades scored again in the 80th minute and Eliason put the game out of reach with his fourth goal of the weekend at 83:24. Eliason was named the most valuable player of the invite, while Blades, Drew Ratner and Brian Usinger were also named to the all-tournament team.
Eliason Earns Big Ten, National Weekly Honors
Sophomore forward Matt Eliason had a memorable weekend at the NIU/adidas Invitational, being named the most valuable player after scoring four goals in Northwestern's two 3-0 wins over Eastern Illinois and Xavier. For his efforts, he was namd the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and to the National Team of the Week by both College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer. Eliason became the third player in school history and the first in 11 years to net a hat trick in Friday's victory over EIU. All three goals came in the second half. It was the first hat trick by an NU player since Patrick Eggen accomplished the feat against North Park Oct. 24, 1997. Andrew McDermott was the first Wildcat to tally three goals in a match, doing so Oct. 21, 1995 against UIC. Eliason added the final goal of the match in the team's win over Xavier on Sunday. Eliason's six goals this season lead the Big Ten and have already surpassed his season total of five from last year.
The Defense Never Rests
Many of the great all-time defenses have had nicknames associated with them. The Pittsburgh Steelers were known as the Steel Curtain. The Los Angeles Rams had the Fearsome Foursome. Perhaps this year's Northwestern team could be the Purple People Eaters. Nevermind, that one's already claimed by the Minnesota Vikings. Nonetheless, opposing teams have found it difficult to score on the Wildcats this season. Through six matches, NU has already posted five shutouts and the lone goal allowed--against Iona--was an own goal. The 'Cats are well on pace to approach the school record of nine shutouts in a season set by last year's squad. Northwestern currently ranks third in the nation with a 0.13 goals-against average. Misha Rosenthal enters play this weekend with 15 career shutouts, just one shy of the school career record of 16 set by George Kokodynski (1987-90).
So Far, So Good
Northwestern's 5-0-1 record matches a school best for the top mark through the first six matches of the season. The 2007 squad had a similar mark through six matches en route to a program-best 7-0-1 start. The Wildcats moved up five spots to No. 9 in this week's NSCAA poll and are ranked second in the Great Lakes Region behind only Notre Dame.
Looking Ahead
Northwestern opens Big Ten play next Saturday as it hosts reigning national runner-up Ohio State at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats defeated the Buckeyes 4-0 in the 2007 Big Ten opener at Columbus before falling to OSU 1-0 in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing, Mich.
