This weekend was supposed to be a getaway to Los Angeles and a nice break from Evanston. But after Northwestern’s game at Princeton was canceled Oct. 9 and rescheduled for this Sunday, the relaxing trip out West became a four-day, cross-country excursion.
“It’s a tough road trip for us,” NU coach Tim Lenahan said. “It’s not exactly the way we planned it, to have Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles on Friday and then Princeton on Sunday. We were supposed to play on Friday, enjoy the weather and then come back home and take a couple days off – kind of like our all-star break.”
The Cats (7-4-1) take on Loyola Marymount (4-4-4) Friday afternoon. The next morning, NU will take a five-hour flight to New Jersey, where it will play Princeton (3-6-1) on Sunday afternoon.
“These games are crucial,” senior defender Brad Napper said. “Loyola Marymount has been in the NCAA tournament the last three years, so that’s a big game on the road. We need to try to step up. It’s going to be a long weekend, but we should be able to buckle down and handle it.”
These two games have significant implications for the NCAA championships. Lenahan said his team, which sits in fourth place in the Big Ten, is “probably on the bubble” and will need wins down the stretch to get a berth in the 64-team tournament.
“These games are big. They’re all big,” Lenahan said. “There’s no difference between a conference game and an out-of-conference game according to the people who make the decisions about the NCAA tournament. Everyone makes the conference tournament, so I’m not really worried about making that.
“Penn State and Michigan finished last and next-to-last, last year. And both got into the NCAA tournament. Wisconsin finished fourth and did not get in.”
NU heads into this weekend with some momentum after two strong performances last week. The Cats dominated Loyola-Chicago 4-0 on Wednesday and fought No. 6 Indiana to a 1-1 tie Sunday.
In those two games, Lenahan used two different goalies, freshman Misha Rosenthal and sophomore Will Briley. They have started in place of last year’s starter, junior Justin Pines, who had season-ending knee surgery at the end of September.
Rosenthal has made seven starts in net including the Indiana game, and Briley started the five games before Sunday’s game. Both have combined for five shutouts this season.
Lenahan didn’t name a starter for Friday’s game and said the situation continues to be on a game-by-game basis.
“We’re equally confident in both of them,” Lenahan said. “But we’re looking for someone to step up here down the stretch because it’s the one spot where we don’t have experience.”
But it is the experience at the other positions that keeps the team confident at this crucial point in the season, especially this weekend, Lenahan said.
“If you’re going to make this kind of trip, the team you want to make that trip with is a veteran group that really cares about what is going on right now,” Lenahan said. “And I think that’s what we have.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
