The Daily Northwestern

Heading into this weekend’s Adidas/Baymont Inn Invitational, Northwestern hopes that the saying holds true: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The Wildcats suffered a 6-1 defeat last Friday against California-Santa Barbara and a 2-1 overtime loss Sunday to host Nevada-Las Vegas at the FILA Invitational.

Coach Tim Lenahan said NU was overmatched in the first contest against California-Santa Barbara, but he said he was pleased with the way his team regrouped in the second game against UNLV.

But Lenahan said the Cats need to take another step in the right direction when they play in DeKalb, Ill., this weekend.

The Cats’ first shot at redemption comes Friday against host Northern Illinois. NU will finish the Adidas/Baymont Inn Invitational on Sunday against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

“We tried to play too much run-and-gun, and it bit us,” Lenahan said. “We need to get organized defensively and play spirited and emotional soccer.”

When NU takes the field, it will be without two starters, junior goalkeeper Justin Pines and junior midfielder Will Nicholas.

Both Pines and Nicholas suffered knee injuries during the trip to Las Vegas and will have season-ending surgery.

“We are a synergistic group, and all the pieces fit together,” Lenahan said. “You can’t just take something out and replace it with another part because it affects the other guys around them.”

Freshman goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal started in the net in Pines’ absence, and senior midfielder Kevin Earnest started in place of Nicholas against UNLV.

Fortunately for the Cats, they got a huge boost when junior forward Gerardo Alvarez returned to the starting lineup against UNLV. Alvarez, who was sidelined with knee injuries, did not play in the Cats’ first two games and came off the bench in the game against California-Santa Barbara.

Lenahan said Alvarez is at “about 60 percent” right now, but he will play this weekend.

In the preseason, the junior was named to the watch list for the Hermann Trophy, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding player.

Alvarez led NU in scoring in 2004 and sits third on the NU career lists for points and fourth for goals.

In the first two games without Alvarez, the Cats grinded out two victories in NU’s Lakeside Classic on Sept. 2-4.

In the first game against Western Kentucky, NU needed a goal in the 88th minute from junior forward Brad North to give NU a 2-1 win in the season opener.

The second match against St. Francis went to two overtimes before Earnest broke the scoreless tie to give the Cats a 1-0 victory.

The two wins gave the Cats their second straight Lakeside Classic title.

Northern Illinois participated in the Lakeside Classic but did not play against NU.

The Huskies are undefeated in their first four games -their best start since 1998.

IUPUI won the IPFW Classic last weekend with two wins against Winthrop and Niagara. The Cats game against the Jaguars will be the first meeting between the two teams in NU history.

Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].