The Northwestern men’s soccer team has made it to the big time — national television.
Well, almost.
As part of a Friday Night Football halftime show, ESPN will be previewing Saturday’s NU-Ohio State football game from the stands of the 4 p.m. soccer match at Lakeside Field.
Highlights from the soccer contest against No. 20 Penn State may or may not eventually make it into the evening clip, but NU head coach Tim Lenahan is excited about the opportunity.
“It’ll be a great time to get a lot of people down to the field,” he said.
Coming off a 1-0 loss to conference power Michigan State, NU (4-5, 0-1 Big Ten) will be looking to continue its strong play today against the Nittany Lions before taking on Western Michigan (1-4-1) Sunday.
The Cats matched up well defensively against the Spartans’ offense on Sunday and nearly tied the game in the final minutes on two close plays.
Penn State (6-4, 1-1) had a heartbreaking 1-0 double-overtime loss to No. 4 Indiana last Friday and a 3-1 rebound win over Towson. Leading the Nittany Lions offense are Big Ten Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Chad Severs — with his conference-leading eight goals — and Pasi Karpinnen, who, along with NU’s Tito Lara, leads the Big Ten with three game-winning goals.
“Obviously, we need to keep the game close, and we need to play with a bit of emotion and a bit of energy (so) that we’re competitive,” Lenahan said. “They’re a veteran defense, but most of their offense is very young.”
NU’s offense will have its work cut out for it facing Penn State’s stingy defense, which has allowed an average of 10.2 shots per game.
“We just want to stay organized defensively,” Lenahan said. “We know we’re going to have to defend a lot on Penn State, but if we can maintain possession of the ball, we can give our offense a chance to score.”
NU has played well against top-25 teams this season, losing to then-No. 22 Columbia and No. 10 Bradley.
With the Nittany Lions’ victory over Towson, head coach Barry Gorman is just one away from reaching the 200-win mark at the school. However, he will be absent for at least four weeks while he recovers from routine surgery.
The Cats should face an easier time at 1 p.m. on Sunday when they face Western Michigan.
The Broncos are currently on a four-game losing streak and have been shutout in three straight contests. But that doesn’t mean the Cats will take them any less seriously. Last season, the Broncos beat NU 2-1 in overtime.
“We’re not favored against anyone,” Lenahan said. “Hopefully, we can bring the same energy and emotion that we have in game one (against Penn State).”
Offensively, both NU and Western Michigan have struggled. While the Broncos average 10 shots per game, the Cats average even less at 8.4.
“It was a good game last year,” Lenahan said. “Both of their goals came off headers. They’re pretty good in the air, so we need to defend a little better in the box.”
Lenahan added that the team needs to control the pace on the outside, using freshman wingers Dave Vargas and Kevin Earnest.
The Cats’ defense may have a slight advantage over the Broncos, allowing 1.3 goals per game compared with the Broncos’ 2.3.
As long as the offense can create opportunities, NU will have a chance against Western Michigan goalkeeper Ian Spooner. The sophomore has a 2.00 goals against average, compared with NU’s J.D. Martin, who has a 1.24 average and three shutouts.
“(The Broncos) are a team like us that’s trying to rebuild its program,” Lenahan said, “so certainly we’ll do the best we can.”
