Oct. 12, 2007
NU Men's Soccer Game Notes vs. Indiana in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -
The top two teams in the Big Ten Conference standings do battle at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field as the sixth-ranked Northwestern men's soccer team plays host to 13th-ranked Indiana. The Hoosiers are 2-0-0 in conference play, while the Wildcats are 2-1-0. Indiana was the preseason pick to win the Big Ten while Northwestern was selected to finish second.
Series History
Indiana leads, 21-1-1. The Hoosiers won the first 20 meetings between the teams, but the series is tied 1-1-1 over the past three seasons. Northwestern's lone win came Oct. 17, 2004 in Bloomington. The 1-0 victory snapped IU's 50-game conference regular season unbeaten streak and a 31-game home unbeaten streak.
Last meeting: Eric Alexander scored in the 28th minute as Indiana edged the Wildcats for a 1-0 win Oct. 7, 2006 in Bloomington.
Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers (7-4-1, 2-0-0) will be attempting to bounce back after suffering a 2-1 overtime loss at Louisville Wednesday evening. Eric Alexander scored the team's lone goal three minutes into the contest. Alexander and Kevin Noschang are tied for the team lead with four goals apiece this season. Chay Cain has seen the majority of the minutes in goal for Indiana and sports a 0.82 goals-against average. The Hoosiers have just a 1-3 record in true road games this year. Mike Freitag is in his fourth year as Indiana's head coach and 19th year overall.
Witt's Buzzer-Beater Gives Wildcats Win Over DePaul
Senior defender Matt Witt couldn't have picked a much better time to record his first collegiate goal. Witt deposited a shot following a mad scramble in front of the net as regulation expired, giving No. 6 Northwestern a stunning 2-1 win over DePaul at Lakeside Field Wednesday afternoon. Matt Eliason scored the first goal of the match off an assist from David Roth at the 12:48 mark. The Blue Demons tied the game 10 minutes later on a tally by John Kornfeld. The defenses took over from there, as Northwestern held DePaul without a shot in the second half. The match appeared headed for overtime until Witt was just able to beat the clock following an assist from Jack Hillgard.
No. 2 Closes In On No. 3
With an assist in Wednesday's victory over DePaul, senior David Roth raised his career point total to 63. Roth is just one point behind Brad North (2003-06) for the No. 3 spot on Northwestern's career scoring list. The St. Louis, Mo., native has three goals and six assists for 12 total points this season. Roth's 31 career assists are a school record and he is the Big Ten's active leader in the category.
Things Are Looking Rosey
Goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal tied J.D. Martin's school single-season record for shutouts with his seventh of the season in the win over Wisconsin Oct. 6. Martin originally set the standard in 2002. Rosenthal's 0.39 goals-against average (currently 0.45) through games played Oct. 7 ranked fourth in the country while his .879 save percentage (currently .853) ranked 10th. The Wildcats are just one shutout shy of the school single-season record of eight set in 2006. Northwestern posted five consecutive shutouts from Sept. 9-26 to set a program record. The 1981, 1985 and 1988 teams each recorded four straight shutouts to set the previous mark. NU and Rosenthal saw their streak of holding their opponents scoreless end at an impressive 536 minutes and 25 seconds against Penn State Sept. 29.
Wildcats Inch Back Up National Rankings
Northwestern had taken a slight drop in the national polls following its loss at Penn State Sept. 29, but the team began its climb back up the rankings with its win over Wisconsin Oct. 6. The Wildcats moved up one spot to No. 6 in the NSCAA top 25, and remained ranked second in the Great Lakes Region behind only Notre Dame. NU is also sixth in the SoccerTimes.com rankings after being No. 8 last week. Northwestern held steady at No. 5 in the College Soccer News poll.