| 2018 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S SOCCER | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (CT) | LOCATION | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, Aug. 24 |
Iowa State | 3 p.m. | West Lafayette, Ind. | BTN2GO | N/A | Sidearm |
| Sunday, Aug. 26 |
#24 West Virginia | 11 a.m. | West Lafayette, Ind. | BTN2GO | N/A | Sidearm |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWSoccer) | Instagram (@NUWSoccer) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 19 Northwestern will look to build on its 2-0 start to the season at the Boilermaker Challenge Cup in West Lafayette, Ind. against Iowa State on Friday and No. 24 West Virginia on Sunday.
Friday's game against Iowa is set to start at 3 p.m. while kickoff against West Virginia will be at 11 a.m. Both games will be hosted by Purdue at Folk Field, and available for streaming on BTN2Go.
The Wildcats picked up wins against Miami of Ohio and Wake Forest last weekend at the Hoosier Challenge Cup. Against Miami, sophomore Regan Steigleder netted the first goal and Kayla Sharples scored the winning goal after the Redhawks answered, giving the 'Cats a 2-1 win. Wake Forest was unable to find the net in the second game of the weekend, while senior Brenna Lovera and sophomore Nia Harris both scored to give Northwestern the 2-0 win.
Sharples was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after the weekend in Bloomington, where she scored the seventh goal of her career against the Redhawks and led the defense in allowing just one goal over the two matches.
The last Wildcat to claim the award was Lauren Clem, who took three consecutive awards from Oct. 4 to Oct. 25 last season and finished her career with five weekly honors. The only other active Wildcat with the award is Hannah Davison, who won on Sept. 13 in 2016. This season, the conference has no longer made goalkeepers eligible for the award and made a separate goalkeeper of the week award.
Northwestern's first-year class has also contributed right off the bat, with goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood starting both contests and collecting her first career shutout against the Demon Deacons. Kaylee Titus and Julietta Thron both made their first career starts against Miami and Wake Forest, respectively, and Haley Lawson, Francesca Docters and Chloe McGhee all made their collegiate debuts as well.
Northwestern has won its first two games of the season for the fourth straight year in a row. In 2015, the 'Cats won three straight games, and in 2016, they won nine games out of the gate, which tied the program record for longest win streak. Last year the 'Cats beat DePaul and Illinois State before falling in their third game to Long Beach State.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Iowa State
The Cyclones are coming off a tough 3-12-3 season with only one conference win. Last year, the team had a goals scored per game average of .65 and netted just 11 goals all season. Iowa State returns 21 players and adds nine first years to the roster.
In their opening weekend, the Cyclones split a pair of matchups, besting Summit League foes South Dakota State, 2-0, but falling 2-1 to Missouri. The Wildcats will face Missouri next weekend on Aug. 30, and defeated the Tigers 2-1 last year in Evanston.
The Cyclones lead the all-time series 2-0, winning both past contests. The last time the Wildcats faced off against Iowa State was in 2006.
#24 West Virginia
The Mountaineers finished last season with a strong 16-4-3 overall record, losing just one conference game and narrowly missing out on the regular season conference title. In the postseason, they fell to TCU on penalty kicks in the semifinal of the Big 12 Tournament and lost in the third round of the NCAA Tournament to Penn State. West Virginia has been to the NCAA tournament every year since 2000, and was picked to finish first in the Big 12 for the sixth-straight preseason poll.
West Virginia had a tough opening weekend, losing to No. 4 Penn State, 1-0, in a rematch of their last game of the 2017 season, and drawing Arkansas 1-1 after double overtime. The Mountaineers, who were ranked No. 9 in the preseason coaches poll, dropped to No. 24, snapping a streak that saw them sit inside of the top-ten for the last 40 editions of the poll, dating back to Sept. 8, 2015.
Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown returns 16 letterwinners from last years squad, including senior Sh'Nia Gordon, who posted four goals and seven assists last year, and junior goalkeeper Rylee Foster, whose 12 shutouts last year ranked No. 8 in the country.
Rylee Foster and senior defender Bianca St. Georges join Wildcat Marisa Viggiano on the Mac Hermann Trophy watch list, awarded to the most outstanding player in collegiate soccer. Gordon, Foster, St. Georges and senior defender Easter Mayi Keath landed on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, giving the Mountaineers the most selections in the conference.
The Mountaineers have only faced off against the Wildcats once, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2015, winning 4-0. Sharples, Davison, Viggiano, and Nikia Smith all started in that contest, while Michele Chernesky, Jenny Haskel, and Brenna Lovera all appeared as substitutes.