Men’s Soccer

A tough Labor Day weekend schedule for Northwestern didn’t turn out well for the Wildcats.

NU (1-3-0) dropped a home game against No. 13 Denver (3-0-1) on Friday, 2-1, before losing its road opener at Marquette on Monday, 4-1.

Senior midfielder Jeffrey Hopson scored both of the Cats’ goals on the weekend from the penalty spot. The first, against a strong Pioneers team, drew NU level at 1-1 in the 71st minute. But a 73rd-minute strike by Denver midfielder Alex Underwood made the tie short-lived and ended up as the game-winning goal.

Hopson’s second came with the Cats down 2-0 to the Golden Eagles in the 73rd minute, as junior forward Elo Ozumba drew a foul in the box on Marquette’s goalkeeper that led to a red card and a penalty kick. However, NU would give up two more goals to a 10-man Golden Eagles team late to let any chance of a comeback slip away.

The Cats struggled all weekend to generate the quality chances they needed to keep up with their opposition. Hopson’s two penalty kick goals were also NU’s only two shots on goal out of 18 combined shots over the two games.

After an uneven start to the season, the Cats will look to bounce back with the start of Big Ten play against Ohio State on Friday.

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