The first senior class to call Lakeside Athletic Field home for four years will play their last game in Evanston on Friday against Minnesota.
Seniors Carolyn Edwards, Jennifer Baumann, Colleen Antas, Alison Schneeman, Ally Arca and Sam Greene along with fifth-year senior Leigh Jakes helped to inaugurate the new facility for Northwestern (6-7-3, 2-4-1 Big Ten) three years ago.
“It’s going to be pretty bittersweet,” Baumann said. “My hope for us is that every single one of us just puts it all out on the field and gets a good result.”
The seven seniors have 224 combined starts and 32 career wins among them. This season, they have 83 combined starts, and coach Stephanie Foster said the number would rise against Minnesota (10-5-3, 2-4-2).
“We plan to start all the seniors who are done with our program, which I think is a first for us to have them all legitimately earn a start on senior night,” Foster said. “I’m really proud of them for that.”
A few members of the senior class have certainly made their mark on the school record book. Greene is tied for fourth in school history for career assists. Goalkeeper Edwards ranks third for career shutouts and is almost certain to surpass Whitney Jones for third on the all-time career saves list – her 212 is five saves short of Jones’ 217.
If she plays 90 minutes against the Gophers, Edwards will also have played more minutes in her career than assistant coach and former goalie Erin Ekeberg, who is third on that list. Most notably, with a 0.96 goals against average so far this season, Edwards is on course to record the lowest goals-against-average in a season in school history.
“This senior class is amazing,” freshman forward Kate Allen said. “Our leadership coming from them is awesome. It’s going to be really hard because our team is really close, and they’re the core of that.”
The Cats enter Friday night’s game eight days after a much-needed 3-0 win against Iowa. The Cats hadn’t won a game since its Big Ten opener at Indiana.
“It was great, especially for our confidence,” Baumann said. “In the attack, we haven’t been scoring that many goals this season, so to put three away and to close out a game with our shutout was really good for our confidence going into the match against Minnesota.”
After starting the season with an 8-1-2 record, Minnesota comes to NU with a record of 1-4-1 in their last six games. The Gophers still have hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth, which will give them plenty of motivation against the Cats, Foster said.
While focused on the win, Edwards said she is expecting an emotional night for the seniors.
“We started the Lakeside Field legacy,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be really sad, but I know the group will carry on. They’ll do a great job without us.”
