Sept. 24, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -
The Northwestern men's soccer program swept the weekly honors from the Big Ten Conference as Carl Pett (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) was named the Player of the Week and Drew Ratner (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal) was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Week.
Wildcat sophomore goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) was named the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week last week.
Pett was stellar in helping Northwestern to a resounding 4-0 victory at 19th-ranked Ohio State Sunday afternoon, recording two goals and an assist. He assisted on the Wildcats' first goal of the match 24 minutes in when he won the ball following a turnover by the Buckeyes at the midfield, made a short run and then fed the ball ahead to Piero Bellizzi for the score. In the second half, Pett helped the Wildcats pull away by scoring on a header and then finding the back of the net again on a great individual effort to help NU remain undefeated. His four goals this season lead the team and have helped the Wildcats get off to their best start in school history at 6-0-1.
Ratner continued to anchor a solid Northwestern defense that has posted four consecutive shutouts. It is the first time in program history that the team has accomplished the feat against four Division I opponents. In each of those four matches, the opposition has managed just two shots on goal. The NU defense has five shutouts overall this season, has allowed just two goals in seven matches and leads the Big Ten with a goals-against average of 0.28. The win over Ohio State Sunday marked the team's largest ever margin of victory in a Big Ten regular season match.
Northwestern returns home at 4 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Loyola University Chicago at Lakeside Field.