July 6, 2010

View the Entire 2010 Women's Soccer Schedule

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Home games against national powerhouses Notre Dame and Penn State highlight the 2010 Northwestern women's soccer schedule, released today (Tues., July 6). In all, the 2010 season will feature a school-record 11 home matches at Lakeside Field for head coach Stephanie Erickson and the Wildcats.

Northwestern's schedule includes nine contests against programs that qualified for the 2009 NCAA Championships, including the 'Cats' first-ever meeting with UCLA, a national semifinalist in 2009.

"This is by far the most difficult and competitive schedule in the history of our program," Erickson said. "We have really exciting matchups against a UCLA team that's usually ranked first or second in the country, a trip to an incredible soccer atmosphere at BYU and home games against a pair of Big XII opponents and Notre Dame."

NU will open the 2010 campaign with a home game against DePaul on Sunday, Aug. 22. That match is followed by the Wildcats' longest road trip of the season, a stretch of three games in five days that includes neutral-site matches against Cincinnati and UCLA in Madison, Wis., and a rare Tuesday night game at BYU.

Following that road swing, Northwestern opens a five-game September homestand by hosting a pair of Big XII conference opponents, Kansas and Missouri. The 'Cats' second game against a 2009 national semifinalist comes on Sunday, Sept. 19, when Notre Dame pays a visit to Evanston for the first time in program history. The Notre Dame contest will be part of a new student week doubleheader with the Northwestern men's soccer program.

"We did a lot of preparation last year with a difficult schedule, so our team is a lot more prepared for these kinds of games," Erickson said. "It will be a good opportunity to position ourselves RPI wise and preparation wise for Big Ten play by facing this kind of schedule early on."

After opening Big Ten conference play at Indiana and Purdue, Northwestern will play five of its six games in the month of October at home, including a three-game stretch that will see Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State all visit Lakeside Field.

Northwestern returns seven starters from a 2009 squad that went 7-10-2. Senior goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) enters her third season as starter in fourth place in the Wildcat record books in career shutouts and saves, while forward Sam Greene (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) is fifth on the all-time assists list. Sophomore defender Briana Westlund (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) anchors a strong back line for Northwestern, a year after becoming the first player in program history to play every minute of her freshman season at center back.

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