Sept. 6, 2007
NU Men's Soccer Game Notes (Yale/Dartmouth)
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EVANSTON, Ill. -
The No. 10 Northwestern men's soccer team hits the road for the first time during the 2007 regular season as it travels to New Haven, Conn., to compete in the Yale Soccer Classic. The Wildcats will face host Yale Friday before taking on Dartmouth Sunday. Gametracker is expected to be available for each match.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Sept. 7
Dartmouth vs. Sacred Heart, 4 p.m.
Northwestern at Yale, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9
Northwestern vs. Dartmouth, 11 a.m.
Sacred Heart at Yale, 1:30 p.m.
Scouting Yale
The Bulldogs' match against Northwestern will be their first of the 2007 season. Yale returns six starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that posted a 7-9-1 mark a year ago. Senior captain Erik Geiger returns in goal for the Bulldogs after appearing in 14 of 17 matches last season and posting a 1.51 goals-against average. The team will be looking for some individuals to pick up the scoring slack as returning players accounted for just three of the team's 23 goals scored in 2006.This will be the first all-time meeting between Yale and Northwestern.
Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green will be seeking its first win of the season after dropping a tight 2-1 overtime decision to UMass Monday. Junior Craig Henderson contributed the team's lone tally in the contest. Dartmouth posted a 6-8-3 record during the 2006 campaign and welcomes back seven starters and 16 letterwinners. Among the top returnees is midfielder Daniel Keat who scored six goals and had 13 points as a freshman last year. NU has never faced Dartmouth before.
Northwestern Claims Lakeside Classic Title
The Wildcats posted a perfect 2-0 record during its season-opening weekend of play to capture their own Lakeside Classic. Northwestern opened the Classic with a 3-0 victory over Colgate Friday behind first-half goals by David Roth, Carl Pett and Mark Blades, while Misha Rosenthal posted a shutout between the pipes. NU completed the perfect weekend Sunday as freshman Matt Eliason recorded his first collegiate goal 19 seconds into overtime to give the Wildcats a 2-1 triumph over Bucknell. Eliason won the ball from a Bison player in the midfield, made a move around a defender and then raced in for the game-winner. Pett also contributed a tally for Northwestern. Senior forward David Roth was named the Classic's most valuable player.
Cats Climb to No. 10 in NSCAA/adidas Poll
Northwestern jumped four spots up to No. 10 in the NSCAA/adidas poll behind the strength of its two victories last week. NU is also ranked third in the Great Lakes Region behind Indiana and Notre Dame. The Wildcats additionally moved up six spots from No. 19 to No. 13 in the College Soccer News rankings.
Three is a Magic Number
Northwestern will enter its match at Yale Friday evening seeking to accomplish something that has only been done once before in school history, and that is start a season 3-0. The only time the Wildcats have opened a campaign with three consecutive wins was 1980, the school's first year as a varsity program. This is just the fourth time ever that an NU squad has started 2-0, including the third consecutive. Northwestern has never begun a season with four straight victories.
Our Guy Eli
Freshman Matt Eliason picked a perfect time to record his first collegiate goal. The forward wasted little time in giving the Wildcats a 2-1 overtime victory over Bucknell Sunday, scoring just 19 seconds into the extra session. Eliason has started each of Northwestern's first two matches this season, notching three shots.
Blades of Glory
Wildcat sophomore defender Mark Blades was hoping to be able to match up against his brother, Gavin, who played for Yale during the 2005 season. Gavin suffered life-threatening injuries in a snowboarding accident in December 2005 and was attempting to make a soccer comeback. However, two weeks ago doctors would not give him clearance to return to competition. He is now serving as a student assistant coach instead.
Wildcats Slated for Three Nationally Televised Games
The brand new Big Ten Network announced Wednesday that the Northwestern men's soccer teams will make three nationally televised appearances on its airwaves this season. The Wildcats' games at Ohio State Sept. 23 and Penn State Sept. 29 will be shown live as will its Oct. 6 home date against Wisconsin.