Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Wrap Up Spring Season With Strong Finish
5/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After going winless in their opening three games of the spring season, Northwestern bounced back to finish strong with three consecutive wins where they outscored opponents by a score of 6-1. Included were two shutouts of UIC and Loyola in the Chicago Cup to secure the fourth consecutive title for Northwestern in the intercity contest played annually at Lakeside Field since 2010.
In their final contest of the spring, the `Cats travelled to Cincinnati to play the Xavier Musketeers, who advanced to the the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2014. The game was a charity game for Down Syndrome Awareness in honor of Devin Fleming, the daughter of Xavier Men's Soccer Coach Andy Fleming, a former Northwestern assistant (2007-10). After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, the `Cats scored two quick goals in a four-minute stretch early in the second half and held on for the 2-1 win.
"After getting thumped by Wright State in the spring opener, 3-0, our group really responded", said head coach Tim Lenahan. "We were leaking goals and had to tighten the defense. To play the last three games surrendering just one goal against very good competition was a very positive sign. We were honored to be a part of the game at Xavier with Coach Fleming and his daughter, Devin. Without question, the game, the atmosphere and helping to raise awareness for Down Syndrome far trumps the result."
Cole Missimo and Mike Roberge led the `Cats with two goals apiece this spring while Joey Calistri, Sam Forsgren and Getenet Work added a goal. Zak Allen posted a .857 save percentage and Francisco Tomasino played 120 minutes of shutout soccer to lead the `Cats to the Chicago Cup championship. Allen was unavailable for the Cup while he was a presenting for the McCormick School of Engineering at an international conference in South Korea on a software application he wrote.
"I thought that Nati Schnitman, Jeffrey Hopson and Nathan Dearth were very solid throughout the winter and spring," said Lenahan. "It was great to have (Sixth-year senior) Layth Masri back after two years of missing games. All in all, there are some positives here and there but we have a long way to go still to be able to continue to be among the top teams in a very difficult Big Ten Conference. The style in which we closed gives us some optimism heading into the summer."
The Wildcats finished just one point away from a Big Ten regular-season championship in 2014, posting a 4-1-3 record in the Conference. Northwestern was 9-3-6 overall and a sterling 7-0-2 at Lakeside Field on their way to a ninth NCAA Tournament appearance under Lenahan.
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