Aug. 23, 2008
POMONA, N.J. -
Mark Blades and Matt Eliason scored second-half goals as Northwestern capped an undefeated exhibition season by coming from behind to top St. John's 3-2 Saturday evening at Richard Stockton College.
"We had a great week of training in Ocean City and came away with two good results against two good teams," said Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan who returned to his alma mater and the school he coached for eight years.
"We also saw some things we need to work on and we'll spend this week getting ready for the start of the regular season."
The teams were knotted 1-1 entering the second half before the Red Storm went ahead on a goal in the 63rd minute. However, Blades got the Wildcats back to even just under three minutes later with Lucas Swertloff being credited with an assist on the play.
Eliason provided the game-winner at the 83:25 mark when he took a feed from Blades and beat St. John's goalkeeper Neal Kitson.
NU made the one-goal advantage hold up as Jonathan Harris made three saves in the contest to earn the victory between the pipes. The Wildcats finished with a 13-8 edge in shots for the contest, including a match-high five by Eliason.
The Red Storm was the first team to tally as Pablo Punyed scored at 15:38, but Kevin Valenta helped NU even the score heading into the intermission by finding the back of the net at 37:34. Tyler Voigt assisted on the score.
Northwestern opens its 2008 regular season at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday when it hosts San Francisco as part of the Lakeside Classic at Lakeside Field. IUPUI and Northern Illinois play the opening match at 5 p.m.