Wildcats Conclude Successful 2008-09 Campaign

5/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

May 11, 2009

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's men's soccer program continued to establish itself as one of the nation's elite teams during the 2008-09 academic year. Beginning with the squad's second appearance in the NCAA quarterfinal round in the past three seasons in the fall and continuing with a solid spring, the Wildcats have maintained a standard of excellence.

NU recently wrapped up it spring with a 3-1-2 record with the lone loss coming to the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. The Wildcats started their non-traditional season April 4 with a 2-0 victory over perennial local power UIC. Junior Mark Blades and freshman Oliver Kupe each tallied goals for the victors. Next up for Northwestern was an April 18 rematch against Notre Dame, a team that the Wildcats eliminated from the 2008 NCAA Tournament in the second round by a 2-1 margin in South Bend. This time around, the squads played to a 1-1 draw with sophomore Matt Eliason finding the back of the net for NU.

The 'Cats posted a pair of victories over NCAA Division II foes April 26, topping Missouri S&T 1-0 behind a goal by Blades before defeating UW-Parkside 3-0 as Eliason notched a pair of scores and freshman John Rogers added another. Northwestern played local rival DePaul to a scoreless draw May 1 before falling 3-0 two days later to the Fire.

"Having lost five starters from last year's team means that we have some holes to fill, particularly in the middle of the field," Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan said. "While I thought we did a pretty good job of filling those gaps, we all realized that we still have a long way to go in order to remain as one of the elite programs. Some teams rebuild and some teams reload. At Northwestern, because it is so important for our pieces to fit together, we kind of reinvent ourselves. We played pretty well against the college teams but playing against the Fire really showed us the areas we need to improve."

After tallying a team-leading 12 goals in the fall, Eliason continued to display his scoring touch, recording three scores. Kupe, who came on strong in the postseason, maintained his emergence as an attacking threat. Drew Kotler and Jonathan Harris split the majority of the minutes in goal while second-team All-Big Ten selection Misha Rosenthal battled injuries. Peter O'Neill, a Big Ten All-Freshman Team pick in the fall as a midfielder, played the majority of the spring in the back filling some of the holes created by the void of last year's senior class and defended well while getting forward into the attack.

For Northwestern to once again make a deep NCAA tournament run in the fall, it will need to rely on senior leadership from the likes of Blades, Rosenthal, Pat Coleman, Eamon O'Neill, Drew Pavlovich and Kevin Valenta.

It will be a tall task considering the Wildcats are coming off their winningest season in school history, posting a 15-5-3 mark.

After being one of the top offensive teams in the country in 2007, NU changed its game based upon its personnel in 2008 and simply became one of the stingiest teams in the nation. The 'Cats surrendered just 13 goals all season in their 23 matches for a 0.55 goals-against average which ranked sixth in the nation.

Northwestern cruised out of the gates thanks in large part to its defense, going 11-0-2 in its first 13 matches. The start helped the Wildcats rise to as high as No. 2 in the national polls, the highest ranking in program history. Along the way, the team posted a school-record seven consecutive shutouts while holding its opponents scoreless for an amazing stretch of 805 minutes and 30 seconds of action.

NU won its first three conference matches during the hot start, downing No. 16 Ohio State 1-0 before topping Penn State and Wisconsin 2-1. The always challenging Big Ten slate cooled the Wildcats off as they dropped three of their final four regular season matches overall heading into the Big Ten tournament.

A late rally in regulation helped Northwestern force overtime in its opening round conference tourney match against Penn State before Carl Pett buried the game-winner in double overtime. A loss to Michigan State prevented the Wildcats from reaching the championship game and meant NU wouldn't earn one of the top 16 seeds from the NCAA tournament. However, the 'Cats would right their ship in time to make another deep run.

A dramatic scoreless tie against Loyola (Chicago) in an opening round match at Lakeside Field forced the teams to go to penalty kicks. Northwestern wouldn't be denied in the tiebreaker as it downed the Ramblers to advance to a matchup at 12th-seeded Notre Dame.

Things didn't look good for the Wildcats as they trailed 1-0 in the second half on the Fighting Irish's muddy pitch. However, Brian Usinger and Kupe teamed up twice with the freshman notching his first two career goals to give NU a thrilling victory.

Northwestern was rewarded with a home match against Akron, the No. 5 seed, in the third round. Despite playing in difficult wintery conditions, the Wildcats got the one goal it needed in the second half. Jack Hillgard's through ball to Geoff Fallon was bent into the upper right corner of the net as the 'Cats moved to within one win of the College Cup.

Though NU came up just short in a 1-0 loss at eventual national runner-up North Carolina, it was yet another season to remember for a program that made its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years and was just seven years removed from a one-win season.

Blades was honored as the team's second All-American in program history and the second in two years as he was named a third-team pick of the NSCAA. He was previously named a first-team All-Great Lakes Region selection, while Eliason was a second-team pick.

Four Wildcats earned All-Big Ten distinction. Eliason was a first-team honoree, while Blades, Rosenthal and Drew Ratner were second-team selections. Ratner and Pett were recognized for their effort both on the field and in the classroom by being named ESPN the Magazine second-team Academic All-Americans.