Oct. 12, 2011

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

Season Stats (PDF)

Site: Lakeside Field (Evanston, Ill.)
Score: Northwestern 2, Northern Illinois 0
Records: Northwestern (6-4-3, 1-0-1 Big Ten), Northern Illinois (8-4-0, 0-2-0)
Next NU Event: Sunday, October 16 - at Penn State, University Park, Pa., 1 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern scored two goals off headers in the second half and freshman goalie Tyler Miller (Woodbury, N.J./Bishop Eustace) saved three shots for his sixth shutout of the season as the Wildcats knocked off Northern Illinois 2-0 Wednesday at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats are unbeaten in their last four matches with a 3-0-1 record in that span.

"Both goals were exactly the same, great service and great finish," Northwestern head coach Tim Lenahan said. "That's an even game against a very good team. Last year, we played the same game and they beat us 2-0 on two services where they capitalized."

Both teams had very few scoring opportunities in the first half with three shots for each squad. The scoring began on a Northwestern corner kick at the 57:42 mark. Peter O'Neill (Fairway, Kan./Rockhurst) took the corner and sent it in to Nikko Boxall (Auckland, New Zealand/Mt. Albert), who rose up to score off a header from about six yards out for his second goal of the year.

The Huskies had an opportunity to score after NU's first goal but a shot by Finn Jor off a free kick hit the post from close range.

Northwestern then scored an insurance goal in the closing minutes (86:24) on another header. This time, Nick Gendron (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) sent the ball in to Lepe Seetane (Lesotho, Africa/Trinity) as he headed it in past NIU goalie Jordan Godsey for his second goal of the year.

"College soccer is a very parity driven game," Lenahan said. "If you can make some plays and get a break, their shot hit the post down here, our two went in, at the end of the day, you can see it's a very even game and we were on the right side of the scoreboard tonight."

Both teams combined for 11 shots Wednesday as NU had the 6-5 advantage. Seetane finished with two looks at the net, along with Chris Ritter (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) who also had two shots. Miller finished with three saves for his sixth shutout of the season while Godsey failed to make a save.

With the 2-0 shutout Wednesday, Miller now ties for fourth all-time on NU's single-season shutout list with six. One more would tie Miller for second in school history.

Northwestern returns to Big Ten action Sunday when it travels to University Park, Pa., for a 1 p.m. match against Penn State. Sunday's game will air live on the Big Ten Network.

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