Oct. 21, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - Having clinched a Big Ten Tournament berth, the Northwestern women's soccer team (9-6-1, 5-4-0 Big Ten) can allow itself to look toward loftier goals.
Like, maybe, an NCAA Tournament berth -- the Wildcats' first since 1998.
"We are definitely talking about the postseason with our players," said head coach Jenny Haigh. "We feel like we have put ourselves in a position where we can get to the NCAA's, but we need to take care of business."
The business is pretty serious in this final full weekend of play. Friday afternoon, the Wildcats host an Illinois team that is ranked 19th nationally and third in the Great Lakes Region (NU, by comparison, is seventh in the regional poll). On Sunday, the `Cats head to Illinois State and look for their first road win of the season in playing the Redbirds.
Coming off a pair of important wins last weekend, the women were given an extra day off by Haigh and her staff.
"We know they are excited and eager to play right now, but it seemed like a good time to give them another day of rest," she said. "But they have come back hungry and they are happy to be out here playing."
Friday's game with the Illini (11-4-1, 5-3-1 Big Ten) figures to be an emotional one. In addition to it being Senior Day for eight Wildcat women, the intrastate rivalry always adds fuel to the fire.
"This is a huge game for us," said Haigh, noting that her team would finish fourth in the conference with the victory. "It is always a big deal when you play a ranked opponent, and of course they are a conference team so that adds even more to the equation."
Illinois comes to Evanston looking to pin NU with its first home loss since the season opener; no other Big Ten team has emerged from the Thomas Athletic Complex this season with anything other than a loss. The Illini are led by All-Americans up front (Tara Hurless, who has seven goals and seven assists for 21 points) and in the back (goalkeeper Leisha Alcia, who boasts a 0.75 goals-against average).
"Illinois is a very good team," said Haigh. "We will have to come out and play a complete game for 90 minutes. They attack well from all over the field and have a lot of dangerous players."
The obvious worry is that, coming off the emotion of Friday's game, Sunday could end up being a letdown game. With so much still at stake in the season, Haigh expressed concern that the trip to Normal would be anything but.
"We have not seen a lot of Illinois State," she said. "But they are always a solid team, and teams like that are tough to beat. We have struggled a little bit on the road, so this will be a test for us."
Haigh also acknowledged her seniors, whose final regular-season home game takes place Friday -- Ashleigh Garmon, Kristiina Gilkey, Katie Gunderson, Carolyn Hack, Anne Helm, Lauren Johnson, Michele Magnuson and Lindsey Veris.
"It has been a good season, with some real highlights, and I'm glad they were able to be a part of it," she said. "They made the Big Ten Tournament as freshmen, but have seen some hard times the last few years. It is great that they will get to experience the tournament again, and be a part of the excitement of trying to earn -- and hopefully get -- an NCAA bid."
Some notes on the `Cats...
* NU trails in the series with Illinois, 1-5-1, with the only win coming in 1998 (2-1). Last year, the Illini defeated the Wildcats 4-0 in Champaign.
* NU is 1-1-1 at home against the Illini; the `Cats are hosting Illinois for the first time since the 2001 season.
* Illinois is ranked 19th nationally and third in the Great Lakes Region by the NSCAA; NU is seventh in the regional poll.
* NU can finish as high as fourth in the Big Ten and no lower than sixth, depending upon Friday's result; since a third-place finish in 1998, the `Cats have never been higher than eighth in the standings.
* NU leads the series with Illinois State, 2-1; these teams are meeting for the first time since 2000. The Wildcats are making their first trip ever to Normal, Ill.
* NU is 8-1-1 at home this season, the third-best mark in the program's 11-year history (8-0-1 in 1998, 9-1-0 in 1997); in the last two season the `Cats are 13-3-2 at home.
* NU is 5-0-0 at home in Big Ten play this season, setting a record for conference home wins (the 1998 team was 4-0-0).
* NU has five Big Ten wins, tying the program record set in 1998 (5-4-0).
* NU has clinched a berth in the eight-team Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2001.
* NU has set a program record with seven overtime games this season; the `Cats are 3-3-1 in those games (2-1-1 in Big Ten play).
* NU has scored 34 goals this season, the fourth-best season in that category in the program's 11-year history; the Wildcats still have three regular-season matches left.
* Of NU's 34 goals, 21 have come from freshmen or sophomores.
* In Big Ten play, NU has 19 goals which is the second-best total in program history; the school record is 21 goals, scored in nine matches in 1997.
* NU's has a goal differential of +7 in Big Ten play; only twice in history have the `Cats had a positive differential in conference action (+7 in 1997, +2 in 1998). Last year NU had a -10 differential.
* NU has outscored opponents 34-19 this season, its best goal differential (+15) since 1998 (47-26, +21).
* NU has been shut out only once this season, by No. 3 Penn State; last year, the `Cats were shut out five times. The team that finished the season with the fewest blankings was the 1998 squad, which was shut out three times.
* Freshman Kelsey Hans has 12 goals this season, a record for goals in a season by a freshman and the second-best season in the program's history; only current assistant coach Stephanie Erickson's 14-goal season in 1996 is better.
* Hans is already 10th on NU's career scoring list.
* Hans has 26 points this season, also second on NU's single-season list; the record is 35, set by Erickson in 1996 (14 goals, 7 assists).
* Hans has set a school record with seven Big Ten goals this season; Ashleigh Garmon has also broken the previous mark (3) with four Big Ten goals this season, while Tabitha Lowey has tied it with three.
* Garmon has a two-match goal-scoring streak entering Friday.
* Garmon has 18 career goals and 42 careers points; she is tied for fifth on NU's all-time goal list and sixth on the all-time point list.
* NU has four players with five or more goals overall -- Hans, Garmon, Lowey and Shannon Schneeman; that is a first since the 1998 team had five players accomplish the feat.
* Hans is second in the conference behind Penn State's Tiffany Weimer in goals (7) and goals per game (0.67) in conference games; she is third behind Weimer and Ohio State's Lara Dickenmann in both point categories.
* Schneeman is tied for second in the Big Ten in assists (5) and assists per game (0.56) in conference play.
* Schneeman has tied the school record for assists in Big Ten play in one season; she shares it with Aileen Guiney, who did it in 2002.
* Senior Carolyn Hack is slated to make her 72nd career start Friday; she is one of three players in the program's history to start every match in her career, along with Molly Greene '04 (71 starts) and current assistant Stephanie Erickson '98 (65).
* Sophomore goalkeeper Whitney Jones has five shutouts this season and boasts a 1.11 goals-against average.
* After allowing three goals to both Michigan and Michigan State during the first Big Ten weekend of the season, NU has allowed only one of its last eight opponents to score more than once (Ohio State scored twice on 10/8).