Oct. 9, 2009
NU Game Notes vs. Penn State (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -
No. 21 Northwestern seeks its second straight Big Ten road win Sunday afternoon as it travels to conference leader Penn State. The Nittany Lions have won each of their first two league matches and are one game up in the win column over the Wildcats and Indiana. Gametracker and live streaming video for the match can be accessed at gopsusports.com.
NU (6-1-3, 1-0-0 Big Ten) is unbeaten since dropping a tight 2-1 decision to DePaul in its second match of the season. The Wildcats have three straight shutouts to their credit.
Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions (7-3-1, 2-0-0 Big Ten) have swept the Michigan schools to open the Big Ten season, topping Michigan 2-0 and Michigan State 1-0. Jason Yeasley paces a balanced PSU attack with 16 points on six goals and four assists, while Matheus Braga and Corey Hertzog are close behind with five goals and four assists for 15 points apiece. Warren Gross ranks second in the conference with a 0.48 goals-against average and has a league-best six shutouts to his credit.
Series Information
Penn State leads the all-time series with Northwestern 21-3-1, though the Wildcats won both meetings a year ago. NU posted a 2-1 win Oct. 4 in Evanston before defeating the Nittany Lions by the same score in double overtime in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament in Madison, Wis.
Wildcats Extend Unbeaten Streak to Eight
Matt Eliason's Big Ten-leading ninth goal of the season 46 seconds into the second half was the difference as Northwestern posted its third-consecutive 1-0 win on Wednesday at Northern Illinois. The winning tally came off a free kick from Mark Blades. NU's defense, behind six saves by Misha Rosenthal, made the one-goal advantage hold up. After allowing nine goals over their first four matches, the Wildcats have surrendered only three goals in their last six contests. The Huskies finished with an 15-11 edge in shots with Northwestern holding a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
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 nine goals this season, including seven in the team's first four matches. The nine goals are tied for third in the nation behind only Andrew Bulls of UMBC (13) and JC Banks of Green Bay (10). 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 26 career goals are just four shy of the school's all-time record.
Looking Ahead
Following Sunday's match at Penn State, Northwestern returns home to Lakeside Field for its next four contests. The home stretch begins with a match against Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Wednesday.