Sept. 2, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern will get a shot at its first winning streak of the season when it travels to Macomb, Ill. to play Western Illinois on Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. The Wildcats (1-1-0) are coming off of a 2-1 win against Drury last weekend, while the Leathernecks are coming off a season-opening 2-0 loss at Evansville.
"Western Illinois might have lost to Evansville, but they are a pretty good team," said NU Head Coach Tim Lenahan. "They have a lot of guys who can play, and on the road it is much more difficult to win. The younger guys on our team are going to have to get used to playing in a tough atmosphere."
Last year, Western Illinois defeated Northwestern 2-1 when Jason Schroeder broke through NU defenders in the 88th minute for the game-winner.
While WIU is still trying notch its first win this year, Lenahan said last season's loss to Western should keep his team motivated to get another win.
"They beat us last season in the final minutes," Lenahan said. "We're trying to keep the wins coming. There was a lot of progress shown from our young guys, and the team as a whole is starting to show signs."
WIU lost only two starters from a 2001 team that went 7-9-1 and 2-3 in the Mid-Continent Conference. One of the Leathernecks' key returnees, Justin Langan, put in eight goals and recorded four assists a year ago. The Davenport, Iowa native also took 42 shots.