It will be a homecoming this weekend for Northwestern coach Tim Lenahan, when the Wildcats hit the road for a trip to the East Coast to play Penn State on Friday and Princeton on Sunday.
Lenahan, who grew up in the Philadelphia area and was a fan of the Nittany Lions, got his first head coaching job in New Jersey at his alma mater, Richard Stockton College in Pomona – about 70 miles from Princeton.
“It’s an important weekend for us,” Lenahan said. “For me and a couple of guys, we’re heading home. It’s great to get back to the East Coast. So I’m excited personally, and it should be a good trip for us.”
Lenahan said he is expecting more than 100 friends and family members to be in attendance at the two games, including some of the players he coached in his eight years as head coach of Richard Stockton College.
On the trip to the East Coast, the Cats (6-3-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten) will try to extend their win streak against the Nittany Lions (3-6-2, 1-0-0) and the Tigers (3-4-1). NU notched back-to-back 2-0 wins against Illinois-Chicago and Michigan State last week.
In last week’s wins, NU received major contributions from two of its brand-new starters: junior midfielder John Carlstedt and sophomore goalkeeper Will Briley.
Carlstedt made his first two starts of the season against the Flames and Spartans, and Briley was in net for just the second and third time of his career last week.
On the offensive end, Carlstedt picked up a goal in each game.
“I was surprised to start, (Lenahan) told me right before the (Illinois-Chicago) game,” said Carlstedt, who came off the bench in the Cats’ first seven games this season. “I got an easy opportunity to score in that game, and in the second game, I don’t know what the goalie was doing on my goal.
“As a team, we’ve started to play better. And once we start clicking, we score a lot of goals.”
Beginning with last year’s regular-season matchup against the Nittany Lions, Carlstedt started the rest of the games. In those 13 matches and his two starts this year, the junior midfielder has scored seven goals and has two assists.
Last time the Cats played Penn State – in the first round of the 2004 Big Ten tournament – Carlstedt scored the game-winning goal in the 1-0 overtime win.
“John has a history of making big plays,” Lenahan said. “To be honest, I don’t think he showed up (this season) in the shape he should have been in. And the last couple of years, he’s been a slow starter. So we had to manage that a little bit to get him going.
“But with Gerardo (Alvarez’s) injury, we have to have guys that can make plays. And sure enough, John has made plays.”
In the back half, Briley has come up with some huge plays in the last two games. The sophomore keeper has recorded two-straight shutouts, which helped him earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors this week.
To preserve the shutout in the Michigan State game, Briley made a diving stop on a penalty kick from Spartans midfielder Ryan McMahen.
“He made a big save against (Illinois-Chicago) and he made a big save on the penalty kick against Michigan State at a critical time,” Lenahan said. “That’s what we need our goalkeeper to do, especially with all these veteran players in front of him. We’re not forcing him to make 10 saves a game, just one big save a game.”
Penn State struggled early in the season, losing its first four games. But last week, the Nittany Lions beat the defending national champions, Indiana, 2-1. Princeton plays Brown on Friday and is coming off a tough 1-0 overtime loss to Dartmouth to open the Ivy League season.
“We have to take both the games this weekend,” Carlstedt said. “That will give us a 2-1 record in the conference, which will put us in a good position in the Big Ten.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
NU (6-3-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten) vs.
Penn State (3-6-2, 1-0-0)
4 p.m. today
Jeffrey Field
State College, Pa.
NU vs.
Princeton (3-4-1)
12 p.m. Sunday
Lourie-Love Field
Princeton, N.J.
