Oct. 2, 2009
NU Game Notes vs. Ohio State (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -
A pair of ranked teams clash Sunday as the 25th-ranked Northwestern men's soccer team opens its Big Ten season at No. 15 Ohio State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT. It is the fourth consecutive year that the Wildcats have opened conference play against the Buckeyes.
NU is the last Big Ten team to play a conference game. The 'Cats are 3-4-1 in league openers under head coach Tim Lenahan, with the three wins coming each of the last three seasons against Ohio State. Live stats and streaming video of the match can be accessed via ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes (5-1-3, 1-0-0 Big Ten) are coming off their first loss of the season, falling 3-0 at top-ranked Akron Wednesday night. Chris Hegngi and Doug Verghopp lead the Ohio State attack with three goals apiece. Matt Lampson (0.93 gaa, .760 save %, 3 shutouts) and Ryan Dalton (0.62 gaa, .905 save %, 1 shutout) have shared time in goal in goal for OSU. The Buckeyes won their Big Ten opener 1-0 Sunday at defending conference champion Michigan State.
Series Information
Ohio State leads the all-time series with Northwestern 18-5-2, though the Wildcats have dominated the series as of late, winning the last three regular-season meetings. NU won last year's matchup 1-0 in Evanston and beat the defending national runners-up 4-0 in its last trip to Columbus Sept. 23, 2007.
Wildcats Extend Unbeaten Streak to Six
A 2-2 tie with Drake and a 1-0 overtime win over SIU Edwardsville last weekend allowed Northwestern to extend its unbeaten streak to six straight matches. Going up a man with 12 minutes remaining in regulation, the Wildcats got the go-ahead goal from Eamon O'Neill with 5:31 left Friday against Drake. However, the Bulldogs managed to get equalizer two minutes later to escape Evanston with a tie. Matt Eliason also tallied his league-leading eighth goal of the season in the match. On Sunday against SIU Edwardsville, Jack Hillgard's header off a free kick by Mark Blades 2:13 into the first overtime was the game-winner. Jonathan Harris played the second half and overtime in goal to earn his first collegiate win.
Eliason's Hot Start
Few players in the nation can boast the start to the season that Northwestern junior forward Matt Eliason has had. Named to the All-Big Ten first team and the All-Great Lakes Region second team after leading the team with 12 goals and 25 points in 2008, Eliason has scored eight goals this season, including seven in the team's first four matches. The eight goals are tied for second in the nation behind only Andrew Bulls of UMBC (12). After scoring two goals apiece against against Oakland and Tulsa Sept. 11 and 13, he was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Top Drawer Soccer's National Player of the Week. His 25 career goals are just five shy of the school's all-time record.
Splitting Time
With regular starting goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal sidelined due to injury last weekend, redshirt sophomore Drew Kotler and redshirt freshman Jonathan Harris split time in goal for the Wildcats. In the matches against Drake and SIU Edwardsville, Kotler played the first half while Harris played the remainder of the contest. Both players have allowed one goal with Harris making five saves and Kotler stopping four shots.
Looking Ahead
Northwestern remains on the road twice next week as it makes the short trip west to DeKalb Wednesday to face Northern Illinois before returning to Big Ten play Sunday at Penn State.