Sept. 14, 2008
Box Score
DeKALB, Ill. -
Reigning Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week Mark Blades scored twice and Matt Eliason added his fourth goal in two games as No. 14 Northwestern rolled to a 3-0 win over Xavier Sunday afternoon at the NIU/adidas Invitational.
NU, which also beat Eastern Illinois 3-0 Friday, was the champion of the Invitational with Eliason being named the most valuable player. Blades, Brian Usinger and Drew Ratner were also named to the all-tournament team.
The Wildcats remain undefeated on the season with the win, improving to 5-0-1 and matching the best start to a season through six games in program history. Xavier saw its record fall to 0-5-0.
The shutout was Northwestern's fifth already this season. The 'Cats have allowed just one goal so far in 2008.
Blades started the match's scoring at 9:13 when he beat Musketeer goalkeeper Ryan Engelmann from 15 yards out. The Wildcats maintained the one-goal lead heading into the half after out-shooting Xavier 8-4 over the opening 45 minutes of play.
The Musketeers challenged to score the tying goal early in the second half as they took the first five shots of the second period, including forcing Misha Rosenthal to make a pair of saves.
Northwestern maintained its precarious one-goal lead until the 80th minute of play. Eamon O'Neill's shot deflected to Blades who was able to find the back of the net to put the 'Cats up by a pair.
Eliason, who posted a hat trick in Friday's victory over Eastern Illinois, put the game out of reach at 83:24 when he took a through ball from O'Neill to notch his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
The Wildcats finished with a 16-13 advantage in shots, while Xavier had 15 fouls to just four against NU.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday when it hosts Loyola Marymount at Lakeside Field.
All-Tournament Team
Northwestern - Matt Eliason (MVP)
Northwestern - Mark Blades
Northwestern - Brian Usinger
Northwestern - Drew Ratner
NIU - Josh Karsten
NIU - Joe Zimka
NIU - Chris Johnson
Eastern Illinois - Brad Peters
Eastern Illinois - Chris Pearson
Xavier - Jake Vollmer
Xavier - Tommy Clines
Tournament Standings
1. Northwestern 2-0-0
2. NIU 1-0-1
3. EIU 0-1-1
4. Xavier 0-2-0
Tournament Results
Friday, Sept. 12
Northwestern 3, Eastern Illinois 0
Northern Illinois 4, Xavier 0
Sunday, Sept. 14
Northwestern 3, Xavier 0
Northern Illinois 1, Eastern Illinois 1