Aug. 5, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the start of the men's soccer exhibition season just over two weeks away, Northwestern has begun to earn recognition from the national media. College Soccer News has the Wildcats ranked No. 18 to begin the season, while senior forward Matt Eliason (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) has been named to the preseason All-America second team.
NU returns 15 letterwinners and 7 starters from last year's squad which went 11-5-4 overall and participated in the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Wildcats earned the No. 9 national seed for the tourney and received a first-round bye. Northwestern posted a 3-1 home win over Notre Dame in the second round before falling 1-0 at eighth-seed Tulsa in the round three.
The Wildcats are the third-highest ranked Big Ten team in the College Soccer News poll. Reigning champion Ohio State comes in at No. 10, while Penn State is 16th. Michigan State is right behind NU at No. 19 and Indiana is the fifth conference squad in the rankings, coming in at No. 21.
Eliason enters his fourth year with the Wildcats tied for the school record with 30 career goals. After tallying 12 goals in 2008, he led the Big Ten in goal-scoring with 13 a year ago as a junior. Eliason has earned first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-Great Lakes Region recognition each of the past two years.
He is the lone Big Ten player on either of the first two All-America teams. Indiana junior Will Bruin was a third-team selection as a forward as well.
Northwestern kicks off its exhibition season August 21 at Villanova. The regular season gets underway Sept. 3 when the Wildcats travel to San Francisco. The home opener is slated for Sept. 17 against Gonzaga.
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