Oct. 1, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's soccer team hosts Iowa and Minnesota in a pair of Big Ten matches this weekend. The Wildcats and the Hawkeyes kick off Friday at 4 p.m.; NU and the Gophers will meet Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wildcats (5-4-1, 1-2-0), who are ranked ninth in the Great Lakes regional poll this week, begin a stretch of seven consecutive matches against Big Ten foes this weekend. Five of those games will take place at home.
The `Cats also have a two-match unbeaten streak entering the weekend, having defeated then-No. 25 Wisconsin and tied Drake last weekend at the Thomas Athletic Complex.
In Iowa and Minnesota, Northwestern faces a pair of teams still looking for their first conference wins. The Hawkeyes are 0-3-1, while the Gophers are 0-4-0.
Some notes on the `Cats...
* NU leads the series with Iowa, 4-3, and have won two straight over the Hawkeyes.
* NU is 1-2 in Evanston against the Hawkeyes.
* NU trails in the series with Minnesota, 7-4-1; last year Gophers snapped a two-match Wildcat streak in the series with a 2-1 win in Minneapolis
* NU is 1-3 all-time against the Gophers in Evanston, including a 2-1 win in 2002.
* With nine regular-season matches still left in the season, NU has already matched its goal total from a year ago (21).
* The last time NU won two straight Big Ten matches was last year, when the `Cats beat Michigan and Iowa back-to-back.
* The last time NU went unbeaten in three straight Big Ten matches was 1998, when the `Cats started the conference campaign with five consecutive wins.
* NU's Kelsey Hans has eight goals this season, tying her with Christie Molitor for the school record for goals by a freshman in one season (Molitor set the mark in 1996). The Wildcats still have 11 regular-season matches left in the 2004 campaign.
* The school record for goals in a season is 14, also set in 1996 by current Wildcat assistant Stephanie Erickson.
* The only other season in which the team's leading scorer had more than seven goals, dating back to the first varsity season of 1994, was 1997 when Erickson had nine.
* NU goalkeeper Whitney Jones is expected to go over the 1,000-minute mark for the season Friday vs. Iowa.