'Cats Open 2017 Campaign with a Pair of Weekend Contests

8/24/2017 12:20:00 PM | Men's Soccer

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern men's soccer will begin its 2017 campaign on Friday, Aug. 25 when Valparaiso visits Martin Stadium for a 7 p.m. CT contest. The Wildcats will then have a quick turnaround and hit the road for a match at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) on Sunday Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. CT.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
The first 100 kids, eighth-grade-or-younger, to enter Martin Stadium for the regular season opener on Aug. 25, will receive a Northwestern school-supply pack. See of the 2017 men's soccer promotions here.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats and streams will be available for both contests this weekend. Fans can watch Friday night's season opener on BTN Plus on BTN2GO, while Sunday's action is set to air on the WAC Digital Network.

The Wildcats finished their preseason slate with a 2-0-1 mark, starting with a 2-1 victory over Eastern Illinois on Aug. 12 thanks to two goals from sophomore Sean Lynch. Senior Elo Ozumba scored the lone goal for the Wildcats in their 1-0 victory at Bradley on Aug 15. And after playing to a 1-1 draw against SIU-Edwardsville (Aug. 18), the 'Cats earned a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks to close out their exhibition schedule.

Northwestern holds a 13-5 advantage over Valparaiso in the all-time series meetings between the two programs. The Wildcats topped the Crusaders, 1-0, in their last meeting during the 2014 season. Valparaiso capped off a 10-5-4 season in 2016 with a draw in the Horizon League tournament against Milwaukee, eventually falling on penalty kicks.

UMKC returns all 11 starters from a team that went 2-12-2 in 2016. Senior Eric McWoods led the Roos last season with four goals in 16 contests. Fillippo Errico started and played in net on 14 occasions in 2016 and posted one shutout and a 2.13 goals against average.

Fans can purchase season tickets for the Wildcats' fall sports by calling the Northwestern ticket office at 888-GO-PURPLE or by visiting NUSports.com.

Adult season tickets are available for $49 while youth can get theirs for just $29. The Northwestern family plan admits two adults and three youth for $99. Single-game tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for youth and $3 for groups of 15 or more.

THREE 'CATS EARN PRESEASON HONORS
Elo Ozumba, Mattias Tomasino and Rouven Wahlfeldt were named to the 2017 Big Ten Conference men's soccer preseason honors list. Ozumba enters his senior campaign in Evanston as the Wildcats' returning points leader from last season. Tomasino appeared in 17 games last season, with 13 starts, and scored a game-winning goal against Rutgers to make the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Wahlfeldt transferred to Northwestern after graduating from UNC-Greensboro to play in his final year of eligibility. He played in 60 games during his career at UNCG, including 55 starts.