The way junior striker Matt Eliason has been scoring this season, opposing teams have to worry when he gets the ball near the goal.
“You hold your breath, because when he gets his face to the goal, there’s a good chance it’s going to be in the back of the net,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “He’s just a great goal-scorer. He’s a danger every time he gets his feet on the ball.”But Eliason does not take all the credit for his prolific scoring.
“My teammates have been doing a great job with service,” Eliason said. “They’re putting me in good positions to score and I’m trying to capitalize on my opportunities.”
Eliason could not have asked for a better start to the season. He scored seven goals in the team’s first four games, cashing in at least once each contest: twice in three of those games, and once against DePaul. Eliason earned Big Ten and National Player of the Week honors for the weekend during which he notched four goals in two games, including an overtime game-winner against No. 21 Tulsa and a go-ahead goal against Oakland.
All told, Eliason is No. 17 Northwestern’s one-man scoring machine. He provided all but two of NU’s nine goals in the first four games of the season.
Eliason has been held scoreless in the team’s two most recent games, but still leads the Big Ten in scoring and is fourth in the nation in goals per game. “He’s been our go-to guy, and I’m sure that’s going to continue as the season goes on,” Lenahan said. “We’ve ridden his shoulders through all of last year and we’re riding him again.”
Last year, as a sophomore, Eliason led the team in scoring with 12 goals, which was the second-highest goal total in NU history. This year, with well over half the season to go, the 21-year-old record for most NU goals in a season – 17, by Jonathan Hall – is within reach.
“I’ve tried to refine my striking abilities over the last few years,” Eliason said. “I’m a lot better this year as an upperclassman.”
His teammates are just glad to have a striker who finishes the job as efficiently as they start it.
“He seems to find himself in the right place in the right time,” senior left back Mark Blades said. “He knows how to find the back of the net, and it’s great to have somebody like that on the team.”
But putting points on the board isn’t all Eliason does. In the Wildcats’ last game, with four minutes to go in a 1-1 tie against Lafayette, Eliason found himself inside the 18-yard box with the ball and a chance to win the game. But rather than blast away, he fed the ball across the box to Peter O’Neill, who knocked home his first career goal – and a game winner, to boot.
“We’re just trying to win as many games as possible,” Eliason said. “If I have to score to do that, then that’s what I’ll do.”
