Northwestern’s new field wasn’t ready for its first regular season game on Aug. 31. So the Wildcats had to host the first round of the Lakeside Classic at Loyola, beating Colgate 3-0.
But the new field was ready for the finals against Bucknell, and freshman forward Matt Eliason made sure NU opened its season at its new Lakeside Field undefeated.
Eliason scored the first goal of his career 19 seconds into overtime to lead the No. 6 Cats to a 2-1 overtime victory.
The Cats are not experiencing a letdown after their run to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals last season. After taking the Lakeside Classic, they also won the Yale Soccer Classic and the adidas/Baymont Inn Invitation, getting off to a school-best 6-0-1 start.
“We’re getting better every game,” senior midfielder David Roth said. “We have never played a full 90 minutes of really good soccer. We just have a complete team this year. It’s not just one guy (or) a couple guys getting all the offense and all the defense. We’ve got a full team this year with everyone getting points.”
Roth led the team in points last season, with eight goals and five assists.
But he’s not NU’s only scoring threat.
Nine different players have netted goals for the Cats. Five players have at least two goals and four players have at least two assists through seven games.
Roth has two goals and five assists, but Eliason’s three goals and freshman midfielder Piero Bellizzi’s four assists lead the team.
“It’s good (the freshmen have) been able to step in and get goals and we’ve been able to win games,” senior defender Matt Witt said. “That was the one thing I was worried about coming in, but they’ve showed me they can do it.”
Coach Tim Lenahan said the shared approach to scoring the ball suits a team that lost two of its best scorers to graduation.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job playing quickly with good combinations, creating good chances. That way you can see there are a lot of guys who have scored,” Lenahan said. “We don’t have one particular player that has all the goals.”
The Cats expected to rely on a veteran defense with the loss of their two starting forwards: MLS SuperDraftee Brad North and Gerardo Alvarez. The defense has responded, allowing only two goals, one on a penalty kick.
The team outscored opponents 18-2 in seven games. Sophomore goalkeeper Misha Rosenthal has five shutouts, including four in a row, and was named Big Ten co-defensive player of the week last week.
NU has scored three goals five times. Last year’s team scored three goals three times the entire season.
The expectations are high for the Cats after last season’s run. The team is ranked in the top 10 of every NCAA soccer poll and Roth was named to the Hermann Trophy watch list, an award presented to the nation’s best player.
Roth said the deep run into the tournament helped the team learn what it takes to win. But he said last season’s No. 8 final ranking and the preseason attention put a giant target on their backs.
Lenahan said the team still has the same goals it did last year. Even with a good start, the goal is to get a chance to compete in the NCAA tournament.
“The ups and downs of the season, they’re coming,” Lenahan said. “It’s how you deal with them. Last year I thought we rebounded very nicely come NCAA playoff time. And my hope is this year, when those names get called out on the board in the second week of November, that we’re one of the names called.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
