This Week in Northwestern Athletics: Mar. 5

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This Week in Northwestern Athletics: Mar. 5

3/5/2021 12:38:00 PM | Baseball, Men's Tennis, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Wrestling, Field Hockey, Women's Fencing

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern University Athletics will have eight programs in action this weekend, in addition to women's basketball, including Big Ten Championships for the men's swim and wrestling programs. It also marks opening weekend for Northwestern baseball.

Wrestling

Northwestern goes to State College, Pennsylvania this weekend to compete in the Big Ten Championships. The 'Cats took home titles in two weight classes at last year's competition with Ryan Deakin winning at 157 pounds and Sebastian Rivera taking the 133-pound crown. As a team, Northwestern finished sixth at the competition.

Deakin will compete for the 'Cats again this weekend, coming in as the nation's top-ranked wrestler in the 157-pound weight class. The redshirt senior is undefeated this year with victories over two ranked opponents.

Chicago's Big Ten Team also brings four other ranked wrestlers to the Big Ten Championships, including No. 15 Michael DeAugustino (125 pounds), No. 8 Chris Cannon (133 pounds), No. 17 Yahya Thomas (149 pounds) and No. 14 Lucas Davison (197 pounds).

Competition begins at 9 p.m. CT Saturday and concludes Sunday night. Live coverage can be found on the Big Ten Network.

Baseball

Northwestern opens the 2021 season Friday with a four-game weekend series against Penn State at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The series kicks off a 44-game conference-only schedule and the first Northwestern baseball action in nearly a year. Northwestern accumulated a 6-7 record last spring before the season was cut short. It's also the Wildcats' first Big Ten showdown since a May 2019 series against Minnesota.

Penn State leads the all-time series by a razor-thin 43-40, but Northwestern swept the last series in three games between the programs in April 2018 and has won five of the last six meetings.

Three Wildcats were listed in the 2021 Big Ten Baseball Preseason Honors List: shortstop Shawn Goosenberg and pitchers Michael Doherty and Tyler Uberstine. Doherty and Goosenberg, along with Michael Trautwein, were also named in the list before the 2020 season.

Goosenberg finished 2020 with a .444 batting average, second best in the Big Ten and 22nd in the country, and a 1.204 OPS. He also drove in seven runs and blasted one home run. Doherty allowed just two earned runs in 21 innings pitched in 2020 and Uberstine struck out 15 in 22 innings pitched.

Live coverage of opening weekend can be found on Big Ten Network+.

Field Hockey

The undefeated Wildcats take the field twice this weekend to conclude their stint in Virginia Beach. They take on Penn State Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT and Maryland Sunday at 9:30 a.m. CT.

Northwestern kicked off the 2021 season last weekend with wins over Michigan State and Maryland. Sophomore Peyton Halsey found the back of the net three times in those two games and now sits fourth in the nation with 1.5 goals per game. Meanwhile, Bente Baekers, who finished third in the country with 28 goals last year, is tied for the national lead with 1.5 assists per game.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is playing a 14-game, conference-only regular season schedule which will consist of two-game weekend series once it returns from Virginia Beach next week.

The 'Cats last beat then-No. 4 Penn State in 2016 and are looking to make it a season sweep over Maryland Sunday. Live coverage fro both games can be found on Big Ten Network+.

Women's Tennis

No. 7 Northwestern travels across the state of Michigan this weekend with a match against Michigan State in East Lansing Saturday and a match against Michigan in Ann Arbor Sunday. Saturday's match begins at 10 a.m. CT and Sunday's begins at 11 a.m. CT.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is 9-1 in 2021 with four wins in matches against top-25 teams, three of which came against teams in the top 10. The 'Cats have won six-straight to start conference play after taking 6-1 wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin last weekend.

Men's Tennis

No. 29 Northwestern hosts two matches at the Combe Tennis Center this weekend as it takes on Nebraska at 5:30 p.m. CT Friday and Iowa at noon CT Sunday.

The 'Cats moved to 3-3 on the season last weekend after splitting the weekend set with a win over Wisconsin and a loss to Minnesota. Northwestern secured the 4-3 win over the Badgers with all four points coming in singles from Dominik Stary, Nick Brookes, Simen Bratholm and Presley Thieneman.

Fencing

No. 8 Northwestern goes to South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame Invitational this Saturday. The 'Cats will face Lawrence, Ohio State and Notre Dame in the all-day competition. They also welcome Lawrence to Evanston Sunday to face the Vikings in two-straight days.

Chicago's Big Ten Team is 9-5 on the season and has won its last three in a row after prevailing over Wayne State 25-2 last weekend.

Women's Soccer

The Wildcats go to Iowa City Monday to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes with kick-off set for 11 a.m. CT.

Northwestern won its last meeting with Iowa 2-1 on the road in 2019. Reilly Riggs opened the scoring in that game with a goal in the 30th minute and Danika Austin fired the game winner in the 97th minute.

The 'Cats are 2-2 on the season with 1-0 wins over Indiana and Maryland. Four different players have scored for Northwestern this year, Josie Aulicino, Rowan Lapi, Aurea Martin and Olivia Stone, while keeper Mackenzie Wood has kept two clean sheets.