Oct. 23, 2008

Northwestern Women's Soccer Game Notes

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With three games left in the regular season, Northwestern finds itself in a battle for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. The Wildcats, who sit in a sixth-place tie in the conference standings, will look to solidify their position when they hit the road to face Iowa at 7 p.m. Friday and No. 25 Minnesota at 1 p.m. Sunday. Sunday's match will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.

The Broadcasts
Gametracker will be available for Friday's contest and can be accessed at NUsports.com. Sunday's match will be televised live by the Big Ten Network with Dean Linke and Kyndra de St. Aubin on the call and live scoring is available at gophersports.com

Scouting Iowa
Iowa sits one spot behind Northwestern in the Big Ten standings in ninth place. However, Iowa is guaranteed a berth in the tournament by virtue of hosting. The Hawkeyes are led by Keli McLaughlin with 17 points on six goals and five assists. Alyssa Cosnek paces Iowa in goals with seven. In goal, Emily Moran and Kali Feiereisel have split time between the pipes.

Scouting Minnesota
With a 5-2 conference record, No. 25 Minnesota sits in second place in the Big Ten standings entering the weekend. The Gophers are a perfect 8-0 at home entering the weekend and have out scored opponents this year by a combined 29-6. Lindsey Schwartz leads the squad with 15 points on six goals and three assists. She also has five game-winners. Between the pipes, Lindsey Dare has made 39 saves, has a 0.35 GAA and has recorded 13 shutouts.

Series Information
Northwestern holds the series advantage over Iowa, 7-3-1. Stephanie Erickson has won both matches against the Hawkeyes in her tenure. NU defeated the Hawkeyes by a 3-0 result in 2007 at Lakeside Field. Minnesota leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 9-6-1. Minnesota defeated the Wildcats, 1-0, last season in Evanston, but NU took a 1-0 contest the last time it visited Minneapolis.

Last Time Out
Northwestern split a pair of home Big Ten contests over the weekend, falling to Michigan State, 3-0, before shutting out Michigan, 1-0. Sunday against the Wolverines, Northwestern broke a scoreless second-half tie when senior Jeanette Lorme dribbled around her defender on the left side and served a cross to classmate Jenny Dunn who volleyed it home for the eventual game-winner on Senior Day at Lakeside Field.

Senior Getting The Job Dunn
Senior Jenny Dunn's game-winning goal Sunday against Michigan was her fourth of the season and 17th of her career. She is the `Cats' active leader in goals and sits in a eighth-place tie on NU's all-time list. Dunn's assist on Jeanette Lorme's game-winning goal against Illinois was her fifth of the season and the 15th of her career and puts her in a third-place tie with head coach Stephanie Erickson on NU's all-time list. Dunn sits sixth on NU's all-time points list with 49. She is two points behind Shannon Schneeman and Brooke Bell for fifth place.

Senior Day Done Right
A very successful senior class was honored before NU's contest last Sunday against Michigan. Laura Janowitsch, Jeanette Lorme, Amanda Hoffman and Jenny Dunn were all honored in a pregame ceremony. Once the game started, it was a pair of seniors that provided the fireworks. Lorme made a spectacular effort to get to the end line and served a perfect cross to the foot of Dunn, who put home what turned out to be the game-winner in a 1-0 win. They all played their last regular season game at Lakeside Field.

Kay's Jewels Come At Right Time
Kay Sampson's game-winning goal in the 87th minute in NU's 2-1 win over Indiana was the second of her career. Sampson's other goal was equally as dramatic--a game-tying goal--as time expired in regulation against Colgate in 2007. The goal tied the score at 1-1 and after two overtime periods, the game ended in a tie. Sampson used all of her 5-9 frame to get above the defense and head the ball into the net to give NU it's second Big Ten win last Sunday.

Distributing the Wealth
With Kay Sampson's goal against Indiana, nine different Wildcats have scored goals and 13 `Cats have notched points on 21 total goals. 11 Wildcats have at least one assist on the season out of 24 total helpers. Senior Jenny Dunn leads the way with 13 points (4g, 5a). Amanda Hoffman (5g, 0a) and Sam Greene (2g, 6a) are right behind her with 10 points each. Alicia Herczeg has seven (2g, 3a) while Laura Janowitsch (2g, 1a), Emily Langston (2g, 1a) and Jeanette Lorme (1g, 3a) each have five.

Valuable Reserve
Junior Jessica Palo has appeared in all 16 games off the bench for the Wildcats and has been active on the offensive end. Palo has one goal and one assist on the year to go with five shots. Palo's goal against San Diego was her first since 2006 when she appeared in 15 games and started three. Jennifer Baumann and Kirstyn Atkinson have appeared in 15-of-16 games.

Hoffman Wearing A New Hat
Senior Amanda Hoffman entered the season with zero goals and only one assist through three seasons on the Wildcats. She has turned into a major offensive contributor in her senior season and leads the Wildcats in goals with five. Hoffman, who has started all 16 games, led the Wildcats back from a 2-0 deficit with a three-goal hat trick against DePaul. The hat trick marked the first for the `Cats since 2004. Hoffman has been economical with her opportunities as well, recording five goals on eight shots on goal.

Second-Half Firepower
Thirteen of NU's 21 goals have been scored after halftime. In the season-opener against Nebraska, the Wildcats put up four goals in route to a 4-3 win at Lakeside Field while all three of NU's goals in a 3-2 overtime win over Pepperdine came after the break. NU registered one second-half goal against Loyola and Amanda Hoffman's hat trick against DePaul featured three second-half goals. Kay Sampson's game-winning goal against Indiana came late in the second half and NU defeated Michigan, 1-0, on a second-half tally.

For Northwestern's complete weekly game notes, click the .pdf link above.