Nov. 13, 2006
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Wednesday, Nov. 15 -- 7 p.m. CT
Northwestern (12-7) at Saint Louis (13-4-2)
Robert R. Hermann Stadium
St. Louis, Mo.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern (12-7) seeks to keep its magical season alive and advance past the second round of the NCAA's for the first time in school history when it travels to face the No. 11-seed Saint Louis Billikens (13-4-2) at 7 p.m., Wednesday at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. Tickets for Wednesday's game are $7 for adults, $5 for youth, and can be purchased through the Billiken Ticket Office at (314) 977-4SLU.
The Billikens (13-4-2) have qualified a tournament-record 43 times in the 48-year history of championship. They have won a record 10 national titles and have compiled a 65-31-4 (.670) record in NCAA Tournament action. For SLU coach Dan Donigan, it is his fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in his six-year tenure at SLU, holding a 5-3 mark in NCAA Tournament play.
"Saint Louis is one of the most storied programs in college soccer, arguably the college soccer equivalent of UCLA basketball, with 10 national championships," head coach Tim Lenahan said. "They have a great coach in Dan Donigan, who like me, shares New Jersey roots. With SLU hosting this year's final four and it being their first NCAA Tournament game, it should be a great atmosphere.
"We have played very well for about 10 games in a row and against Cincinnati we were able to finish our chances. The only difference in that game is that we not only played well, but to get the goals and the win as well. With Gerardo Alvarez now getting in the scoring column, Brad North on a hot streak and Dave Roth returning to his hometown, we have a good feeling on the team about our chances of advancing. It should be a great game."
LAST TIME OUT: On a cold, windy day in Evanston, Northwestern defeated Cincinnati, 3-0, in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. Gerardo Alvarez scored his first two goals of the season and Brad North scored another in the shutout win. Alvarez opened the scoring six minutes into the game with a header into the goal off a David Roth crossing pass. It was his first goal of the year. Northwestern built the halftime lead to 2-0 when North scored off a Pat Coleman serve from midfield. Cincinnati had trouble putting together a sustained offensive attack in the first period. They amounted only two shots on Northwestern goalkeeper Justin Pines in the first period. The Bearcats came out with a more concerted effort in the second half. They tallied 11 shots, including a deflection by Noah Davidson off an Omar Cummings free kick that went wide left late in the second period. Alvarez put the game out of reach late in the second period when he scored on a penalty kick that put Northwestern ahead 3-0.
With the two goals, Alvarez moves to third on the all-time list behind Hall and North. He is second on the all-time assist list behind Roth.
By virtue of their 3-0 win over the Bearcats on Friday, this year's senior class is now officially the winningest class in the program's history with 43 wins. Before Friday, they were already the winningest class since Big Ten play started in 1991. The 43 wins are one more than the 1988 seniors who went out with 42 wins from 1985-88.
This is Northwestern's second trip to the NCAA in three years after the 'Cats made their first ever appearance in 2004. That year the Wildcats won a school record 15 games, won their first round game against Western Illinois at home before falling on the road to Creighton in round two. This will be the first meeting between Northwestern and Saint Louis in the series history.
This year Wildcats enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history -- having won 12 games and starting a program-best 7-1 en route to a No. 14 national ranking back in September -- the highest ranking ever. The Wildcats have defeated five teams ranked in the top 40 of the latest RPI rankings released by the NCAA, which included Hofstra, UC Irvine, Northern Illinois, Cincinnati and the school's first win over Ohio State in 13 years.
Wednesday's game will be a homecoming for three Wildcats. David Roth, Kevin Valenta and Geoff Fallon all hail from the St. Louis area.
Scouting Saint Louis
As mentioned, the Billikens are no strangers to postseason play, qualifying the NCAA's a record 43 times in the 48 year history of the tournament. Saint Louis is known as a soccer power and this year was no exception. They are 13-4-2 and won the Atlantic 10 championship with a 8-0-1 mark. The Billikens are led offensively by the trio of John DiRaimondo (5g, 5a), Casey Spiess (4g, 5a) and Alex Matteson (4g, 4a). Ross Kaufman (11-2-1) has started 15-of-16 games in goal, recording eight shutouts and 29 saves while Nick Billman also has spent time in goal, starting 4-of-7 games with one shutout.
Noting The Wildcats
Senior Brad North and junior David Roth led a list of four Wildcats honored by the Big Ten Nov. 2 at the 2006 Big Ten Men's Soccer Awards Banquet at the Holiday Inn in Columbus, Ohio. Both North and Roth were named to the all-Big Ten first-team while Carl Pett was named to the second-team. Pett also joined Mark Blades on the all-freshman team.
North, now a two-time first-team selection, leads the team with eight goals and is second on the team with 18 points. He was twice named the Big Ten's Player of the Week and scored the game-winning goals against Michigan and in the win over No. 24 Northern Illinois in double overtime. He also was named to the National Teams of the Week by College Soccer News, SoccerAmerica.com and TopDrawerSoccer.com after scoring two goals in the win over Ohio State. North was among the leaders in the Big Ten in goals and points. He joins Brad Napper as the only two-time first-team honorees in Northwestern's history.
After a sub-par year in 2005, Roth rebounded in a big way this season, leading Northwestern with 19 points (7g, 5a) and was among the Big Ten leaders in goals and total points. A second-team All-Big Ten selection last season, Roth was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 11, scoring three goals to help the Wildcats go 2-0 and clinch the championship of the Adidas/Baymont Inn Invitational. He tallied both Northwestern goals in the 2-0 win over Bradley before scoring his third goal of the weekend against Drake in the second half to tie the game. Roth also scored the game-winner in the win over Ohio State Sept. 17 -- the first win over the Buckeyes in 13 years. The Wildcats are 9-1 this season when he records at least one point in goal or assist fashion.
Red shirt freshman Pett led Northwestern and the Big Ten in assists this season with eight and ranked 15th nationally. When Pett was on his game, the Wildcats won -- NU is a perfect 6-0 when he records at least one assist. He assisted on the game-tying and game-winning goals in the win over Ohio State, had two assists in the win over Michigan and also assisted on the game-winning goal in the win over Loyola. He scored his lone goal in the win over Drake at the Northern Illinois Tournament. He is third on the team with 10 points (1g, 8a).
True-freshman Blades established himself early and often in the Wildcat backline this season. In the opening weekend he picked up Lakeside Classic MVP honors as NU defeated Hofstra and Dayton. Blades' quickness, speed and athleticism in the back smothered the opposition's attack throughout both games and continued that trend throughout the season. Blades recorded his first point as a Wildcat Sept. 24 against Penn State when he assisted on North's goal late in the second half. He then tallied his first career goal in the win over Valparaiso. He tallied another assist in the Big Ten opening round match with Penn State.
Working Overtime: The Wildcats have gone to double overtime in three of their last four games. NU gave away a game on the road at Michigan State on Oct. 15 in double overtime before rebounding on the final day of the regular-season when North knocked in a Geoff Fallon pass in the final minute of double-overtime to earn the 1-0 win over the ranked Huskies. Then at the Big Ten Tournament, NU carried a 1-0 lead into the final 10 minutes of the game before the Nittany Lions came back late to tie it and eventually win it in double overtime.
Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Tim Lenahan, the Northwestern's men's soccer program has arrived as a Big Ten power. The Wildcats are 12-7 this season, giving Lenahan a combined 36-20-4 record over the last three years -- with two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Northwestern has had three of the most successful seasons in its history, going a program-best 15-6-2 in 2004 -- which included the program's first trip to the NCAA Tournament -- before turning in another winning season last year (9-7-2) despite a lot of youth and injuries. This year the Wildcats started off 7-1 -- the best start in program history -- and leaped to No. 14 in the national rankings. It was the highest ranking in program history which came off the heels of a 3-1 win over Ohio State whom the 'Cats had not defeated in 13 years prior. This year's senior class will graduate as the winningest class in the program's history. They have 43 heading into Wednesday night's match.
Midfielder Will Nicholas sustained a season-ending knee injury in the win over Loyola Sept. 27 and will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee on Oct. 3. This is Nicholas' third ACL injury in addition to a broken leg sustained his sophomore season in 2004 against Evansville. He suffered his first ACL tear to his left knee during his senior year at Parkland High School in Orefield, Pa. After the broken leg in 2004, his past two seasons have been cut short with ACL injuries to his right knee on both occasions.
Twenty-eight (28) goals have been scored by Northwestern this year, with 18 of those coming after halftime. The Wildcats have made a living by saving their best for last with comeback win after win, especially early in the season. On a more impressive note, NU is 11-2 this season when holding opponents under two goals, 9-0 when scoring multiple goals and 8-2 when scoring first. Probably the most devastating of those two defeats was to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament in which the Wildcats led 1-0 all the way up until the 81st minute when PSU tied it and eventually won in double-overtime.
Senior Gerardo Alvarez, hobbled by a foot injury for part of the season, finally broke out of a season-long scoring slump with two goals in the NCAA Tournament win over Cincinnati. He also is tied for third on the team with three assists. Alvarez, a two-time all-Big Ten selection and the 2003 Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is second on NU's all-time assist list (24), is second in points (76) and third with 26 goals. Alvarez was named to the 2006 Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Freshman Eamon O'Neill registered the first points of his career in the win over UC Irvine on Sept. 4 and later notched the game-winner in the victory over Loyola Sept. 27. The Wilmington, Del. native first assisted on Daniel Chille's second half goal to tie the game and later scored the game-winner unassisted to give the Wildcats the victory. O'Neill later added an assist in the big win over Ohio State Sept. 17. O'Neill has two goals and three assists this season and is tied for fourth on the team with seven points. Chille, who has been out with a hamstring injury of late, has two goals and one dish for five points. Geoff Fallon also has seven points this season (2g, 3a) while Drew Ratner has two goals.
Goalkeeper Justin Pines, who has started the last three games for Northwestern in goal, started his first game of the season in the 1-0 double-overtime shutout win over No. 24 NIU on Oct. 27. Pines, who picked up his first win since the 2004 season in the win at UC-Irvine, made four saves and held the Anteaters scoreless as the Wildcats came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Pines (3-1) then played the entire second half in the win over Drake, holding them scoreless as Northwestern again came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit. Pines has played in a total of eight games (two starts) this year with nine saves and allowing just three goals. He started the Big Ten Tournament match against Penn State and picked up his sixth career shutout in the NCAA Tournament win over Cincinnati.
There were no push-overs on this year's schedule. Twelve of the 17 teams on the regular-season slate finished last season with a winning record, with six of those teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
Behind two Brad North goals and another one by David Roth, the Wildcats did something Sept. 17 they haven't done in 13 years: beat Ohio State. Northwestern defeated the Buckeyes 3-1 and snapped a 15-match winless streak against OSU. Once again, the Wildcats came back from a 1-0 deficit at halftime -- the third time in four games--and won. They regrouped at halftime and didn't take long to tie it up as Carl Pett fed a streaking North who fired it past OSU's keeper into the right side of the net six minutes into the half. Five minutes later, Pett fed Roth in a similar fashion, as Roth took the pass and shook his way past OSU's keeper who was charging on the play, and tapped it in for the easy goal and the 2-1 lead. Then in the 63rd minute, Northwestern added an insurance goal when North tallied his second goal of the day with an assist from Eamon O'Neill.
Tim Lenahan's 2006 freshman class was ranked the 21st best recruiting class in the country according to collegesoccernews.com. In addition, two of those incoming freshmen, Eamon O'Neill and Mark Blades, have been named among the "top 100 freshmen to keep an eye on" this season. Indiana was the only other Big Ten school ranked above Northwestern. O'Neill and Blades, both highly recruited NSCAA high school all-Americans, are part of a very talented six-member incoming class. Blades, a Lakewood, Ohio native who led his high school to two state championships, was named the 2005 Ohio Player of the Year after recording 17 career goals and 41 assists. O'Neill hails from Wilmington, Del. where he took his Salesianum High School team to three state championships, recording 69 career goals and 64 assists and was named the Delaware Player of the Year in recognition of his outstanding efforts.