Northwestern Hosts Butler Sunday in NCAA First Round

11/10/2017 9:45:00 AM | Women's Soccer

2017 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S SOCCER
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (CT)	LOCATION	WATCH	LISTEN	LIVE STATS
Sunday, Nov. 12	Butler	1 p.m.	Evanston, Ill.	BTN2Go	WNUR	Sidearm
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Match Notes (PDF)

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will play in its third-straight NCAA Tournament and host the first round for the second consecutive year when it hosts Butler Sunday at Martin Stadium at 1 p.m.

The game will be streamed for free on BTN2Go. WNUR will have the call on radio, and live stats will be available from NUsports. Links for all can be found in the table at the top of the page.

The Wildcats earned home-field advantage by going on a tear to close the regular season. The team posted five straight shutouts between the final four regular season matches and the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. All told, NU racked up 535 straight shutout minutes down the stretch, the third-longest streak in program history, all of which have come in the last two years.

Northwestern ultimately finished runner-up in the conference tournament, advancing to the program's first championship game since 1997. The 'Cats also finished second in the Big Ten standings in the regular season.

SERIES HISTORY
Northwestern and Butler played four straight times between 1996 and 1999 with the Wildcats winning all four contests by one goal. In the most recent outing, in 1999, Northwestern won a 2-1 decision in Indianapolis. The last time these teams met in Evanston was Oct. 25, 1998, a 1-0 NU win. This year's teams are somewhat familiar with each other as they met on Aug. 8 in a preseason exhibition.

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This is Northwestern's third straight trip to the NCAA tournament and fifth all-time. The Wildcats made their first appearance in the tournament in 1996, falling to Wisconsin in the first round. Two years later, the 'Cats advanced to the Round of 16 with wins over Evansville and Baylor. They were then eliminated by Florida in a 1-0 loss, and the Gators went on to win the national championship.

Chicago's Big Ten Team has recorded at least one tournament win in each of the previous two campaigns. In 2015, NU beat Washington State in double overtime on a golden goal from Michelle Manning that was assisted by current junior Marisa Viggiano. Last season, the Wildcats matched their best-ever tournament finish with a trip to the Round of 16. Northwestern beat Kent State and SIUE without giving up a goal before falling to No. 14 Duke, 1-0.