Aug. 19, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Matt Witt, Carl Pett and Brian Usinger all notched goals as Northwestern defeated Marquette 3-0 Sunday at a wet and soggy Lakeside Field. The Wildcats' next exhibition match will be at 7 p.m., Aug. 25 at Saint Louis.

"It was a good first day for us," head coach Tim Lenahan said. "Our primary goal was to be organized defensively. The conditions were very sloppy and with the construction going on, it made the field a bit shorter and made it a little easier to defend. But we made the most of our chances and made the most out of our set pieces. I think Marquette is going to be a good team before the end of the year. Their coach has done a great job with a lot of freshman players and rebuilding his program.

"But all in all we didn't give up any goals, which was our primary focus. Now in the next two exhibition matches we'll really find out how good we are against Saint Louis and Notre Dame on the road."

The match featured three 30-minute periods. NU's first goal came with 2.8 seconds left in the first as Witt headed home a shot off a deflection past keeper Mike Tabory for the 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats made it 2-0 midway through the second period when Usinger headed a ball into the net off a David Roth corner attempt. Just over 11 minutes later, Pett joined in on the scoring -- another header -- with 5:18 left in the period to cap off the scoring.

Northwestern's No. 1 defense, which played primarily the first 60 minutes, held the Marquette attackers at bay, allowing just three shots in the first two periods.

All 26 players saw action, with starting goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal and Will Briley each getting at least 30 minutes in goal.

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