Oct. 30, 2007
Fourth Quarter
Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald often compares the football schedule to a game and encourages his team to play hard all four quarters. Our team presently sits at 5-4 and we are about to start the fourth quarter. We have showed great resiliency through the first nine games, and have an opportunity now to have a very good season. The next two games, both at home, will be crucial for our team. I encourage all of our fans to come out and support the team in these two games. With one more win we will be bowl-eligible. It appears likely that the Big Ten will have eight or more bowl-eligible teams (with only seven bowl tie-ins), though, so we need to finish strong in the fourth quarter to ensure that we are invited to a bowl. Please check our website over the next few weeks for updates on bowl possibilities. There is nothing more exciting than playing games in November with bowl bids at stake.
Justin Pines
One of the great stories in our athletic department this year involves Justin Pines, a place-kicker on the football team and goalkeeper on our men's soccer team. Given the increased specialization in athletics today, it is rare to see a two-sport athlete -- but to have an athlete compete in two sports in the same season is truly extraordinary. Justin came to Northwestern in 2003 as a goalkeeper on our men's soccer team. He started on-and-off over his four years, and had a very good collegiate career. He battled injuries throughout his career, but was healthy late last season and started in goal during our team's great run to the NCAA quarterfinals. Justin had always wanted to try his hand (or foot) at football, and decided to try out for the football team in the spring. He impressed coaches with his leg strength as both a place-kicker and punter and earned a spot on the team. He was enjoying football, and assumed his soccer career was over. Two weeks ago, though, Misha Rosenthal, our starting goalie injured his knee. Our men's soccer coach Tim Lenahan contacted him to see if he would be interested in coming back to the soccer team. Since Justin missed an entire season due to injury, he had a year of eligibility remaining in soccer. Justin had a busy weekend last weekend -- traveling to Purdue with the football team on Saturday and then starting in goal and shutting out Michigan State on Sunday. This Saturday will be even more hectic for Justin, as we have a home football game on Saturday at 11 a.m. followed by a home soccer match at 5 p.m. Special thanks to Justin for all he does for our athletic program.
Night Games
Our new Lakeside Field has been a great addition to our athletic facilities. Lights are being installed this week and we will have our first night games this weekend -- women's soccer at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Wisconsin and men's soccer at 5 p.m. Saturday against Green Bay. I encourage all of our fans to come out and catch exciting soccer action under the lights.