Oct. 20, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern and Loyola Chicago meet up Tuesday night in men's soccer action at Lakeside Field in a rematch of a 2008 NCAA Tournament First Round showdown. Tuesday's contest gets underway at 7 p.m. Gametracker can be accessed via NUsports.com.
Northwestern leads the all-time series with Loyola Chicago 17-4-7. NU won last year's regular season meeting 1-0 at Loyola behind a goal by Brian Usinger. In addition to the regular season matchup, the Wildcats and the Ramblers met in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in Evanston. The teams played to a scoreless tie, but Northwestern advanced on to the second round by defeating Loyola 4-1 on PKs.
The Wildcats (7-2-4, 1-1-1 Big Ten) are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss at home to Wisconsin on Saturday. For the second consecutive Big Ten match, a Northwestern foul inside the 18-yard box late in the contest cost the Wildcats as Wisconsin converted on a penalty kick with five minutes left in the first overtime.
The Badgers struck first 34 minutes in when Taylor Waspi corraled a loose ball at the top of the box and found the back of the net. NU answered back just over four minutes later. Peter O'Neill's service from the left flank was deflected and went to Kevin Valenta who was able to finish it on the doorstep for his first goal of the season. The game remained tied until the first OT when Wisconsin earned a corner kick and the Wildcats were whistled for a foul on the service, setting up the Badgers' winning PK. Northwestern finished with a 16-9 advantage in shots and a 9-4 edge in corner kicks. The loss snapped the Wildcats' 10-match unbeaten streak, the second-longest in program history.
Meanwhile, the Ramblers (3-5-4, 0-3-2 Horizon League) are coming off a 1-0 conference loss at home to Wright State on Saturday. Mark Halma leads Loyola with three goals and seven points, while Michael Ferguson is second with two goals and two assists for six points. Peter McKeown has seen the majority of the action in goal and sports a 0.80 goals-against average and a .780 save percentage. Since starting the season 3-1-1, the Ramblers have gone 0-4-3 over their last seven matches.
Following Tuesday's contest, Northwestern plays the final game of its four-game homestand Sunday as it takes on Indiana. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. The match is being televised live by the Big Ten Network.