SPORTS
ON DECK
ON THE RECORD
“We have to refocus and everybody’s got to play for the ‘N’ on the front of the shirt.” — Tim Lenahan, men’s soccer coach
Volleyball 28 NU at Purdue, 6 p.m. Friday
SEPT.
Friday, September 28, 2012
@Wildcat_Extra
Cats look to rebound from mid-week loss NU hopes to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten after first loss of the season
Men’s Soccer
By rohan nadkarni
daily senior staffer
Meghan White/Daily senior staffer
Familiar Script Joey Calistri and NU hope the team can recreate last season. The Cats bounced back from a 4-0 DePaul loss to win the Big Ten.
A loss to DePaul may be the best thing to happen to No. 18 Northwestern this season. After starting the season with an eight-game winning streak, the Wildcats fell to the Blue Demons on Wednesday night. Last season, when NU fell to DePaul, also in the ninth game of the season, the Cats would not lose again until the NCAA tournament. “I told (the players) the same thing I told them last year after they lost 4-0,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “How your season goes will be determined by the next nine games, not necessarily the first nine games.” Now, the team shifts its focus back to conference play, with a matchup with Michigan State (3-5-1) looming on Sunday.The Cats are 1-0 in conference play so far, dropping Michigan 2-0 last week. For NU to continue its success within the conference after winning the Big Ten last season, it must regain the form it had prior to the DePaul game. “We have to refocus and
Women’s Soccer
everybody’s got to play for the ‘N’ on the front of the shirt,” Lenahan said. “That’s been formula, that’s been our success.” Freshman forward Joey Calistri and sophomore midfielder Grant Wilsonmust also regain their form to aid the Cats’ offense. For only the second time all season, NU failed to score a goal in WednesComing day night’s off a loss game. Calistri, the team’s we’re going to leading goal do whatever scorer, and Wilson, the we can to be conference’s more focused top man as a team. in assists, could not get Tyler Miller, going against sophomore DePaul. goalie Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Millerlost his shutout streak after the loss, giving up a goal for the first time since a contest against Rhode Island on Sept. 9. “Coming off a loss, we’re going to do whatever we can to be more focused as a team,” Miller said. “You don’t win a trophy for being 6-0-2 in the middle of the season. It’s all about what you do at the end of the season.” The Spartans enter the game under .500, struggling at home so far with a 1-3-1 record. The game against
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NU vs. Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. 2:30 p.m. Sunday
NU will wrap up a three-game home stand for Michigan State, who split the first two, losing to Marquette in overtime but toppling Western Michigan. The Cats should still be able to count on their defense when they travel to East Lansing. Aside from one blatant miscue that led to DePaul’s second goal, the defense played well against the Blue Demons. Last season, NU and Michigan State clawed and scratched to a 1-1 tie in Evanston. The Cats dominated the game on the offensive end, with a 14-3 advantage in shots, as well as a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks. But the Cats could not pull away from a team that was then 1-5-1, indicating that the matchup between the two squads could be much closer than each team’s record indicates. Ultimately, NU believes it can return to its winning ways if it harnesses the energy and focus it played with for the first month of the season. “I really want to see us bounce back,” Miller said. “I think we can bring energy and hopefully we can get going again.” rohannadkarni2015@u.northwestern.edu
Volleyball
Cats still searching for answers NU tries to recover
from 0-2 weekend
Northwestern v. Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. 6 p.m. Friday
Northwestern vs. Purdue
By Ben Taylor
West Lafayette, Ind. 6 p.m. Friday
the daily northwestern
By Rebecca friedman
the daily northwestern
With a crucial weekend coming up, the Wildcats hope to embrace their underdog status and obtain their first Big Ten win of the season — a victory that would increase their chances of sneaking into the conference tournament. With losses to Penn State, Ohio State and Nebraska, Northwestern sits at 4-5-2 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten.The Cats head to Purdue (6-4-1, 1-2 Big Ten) and Indiana (5-5-1, 0-3) this weekend to face off against two other teams in the bottom half of the conference. “This is a massive weekend for us,” coach Michael Moynihan said.“We are 0-3 right now in the Big Ten and we’ve tasted a bit of success this season before the conference season started. We need to get back to that.” Though the feat of sweeping the weekend seems more difficult on the road, NU has a 2-1-1 away record this year. The Wildcats have scored seven goals in five games away from Lakeside Field, as compared to only eight goals in seven games at home. Goal production has been an issue
Daily file photo by Mackenzie McCluer
Coming up short Sami Schrakamp and the Wildcats have already surpassed their win total from last season, but the team believes they have played better than their current 4-5-2 record.
for the Cats in conference play so far, as they have mustered only one goal in the three losses. “Every team has trouble scoring. It’s a tough thing to do,” Moynihan said. “In all honesty, I’m more concerned about the goals we’re giving up. We’re giving up goals that are very soft. The team isn’t doing a whole lot to earn them.” Junior defenseman Natalie Lagunasemphasized that when limiting
small defensive errors, the Cats are able to stick with the top teams in the conference. Despite dropping 2-0 games to both Nebraska and Ohio State, NU believes it is putting up more of a fight in tough conference games than it did last year. “We are competing so well with these teams, much more than we » See WOMEN’S SOCCER, page 11
If there were a power conference in women’s volleyball, there is no question the Big Ten would be at the top of the list. With seven of the conference’s 12 teams ranked in the top 25 of the AVCA Coaches Poll and a Michigan team not far behind in 29th, navigating through a season of Big Ten conference play would challenge any team. Northwestern senior libero Julie Chin said keeping a positive attitude and being confident is the Wildcats’ answer to handling the tough competition. “I feel like every team in the Big Ten is worth getting a rank, so every team is good,” Chin said. “We have to go in there and know we are a good team.” The Cats (11-2, 0-2 Big Ten) will need that attitude as they make their first conference road trip to the Hoosier State, taking on the No. 13 Purdue Boilermakers (11-2, 2-0) Friday before heading to Bloomington, Ind. to face the Indiana Hoosiers (8-6, 0-2) on Saturday. Although NU has enjoyed recent success against these two teams,
winning the last six consecutive matches, the Cats struggled last weekend in their first Big Ten matches of the season, losing to Wisconsin (13-2, 1-1) 3-1 before dropping the match against No. 10 Minnesota (11-2, 2-0) by the same score. But coach Keylor Chan hopes the situational work his players have done in practice this week will limit the mistakes that cost them against Wisconsin and Minnesota. “We just tried to recreate the situations we were in last weekend and let the girls learn how to deal with them,” Chan said. For the players, simply focusing on playing smart volleyball is the key to winning on the road. “We have to know when is a good time to take what swings,” junior outside hitter Stephanie Holthus said. Holthus was a bright spot for the Cats this past weekend, reaching 1,000 career kills during the Minnesota match. For the season, » See VOLLEYBALL, page 11
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