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 Cross Country |  Field Hockey |  Football |  Men’s Soccer |  Women’s Soccer |  Volleyball |
Cross Country
This season will be an interesting one for the Northwestern Women’s Cross Country team. With the loss of top runners Sophie Ewald (out due to injury), Carly Brown and Marcelle Fullwood (graduated), the Lady Wildcats have a lot to prove this year. However, the Wildcats are confident that they can pull through.
“Our biggest challenge this season is going to be improving as a team,” said sophomore Rachel Kaminski, a top five runner on the team this year. “The girls from last year and the freshman members all need to step up in order to make this season a success.”
Freshman Allegra Mayer is already stepping up for the Wildcats. She led the team with a time of 14:55:74 at the DePaul Invitational, her first meet. Mayer also placed third overall at the 2009 Huskies Open. Freshman Audrey Huth placed sixth overall, and ran a time of 19:25:04 at the Open. Both freshmen are definitely in the process of making huge strides for cross country at Northwestern.
Kaminski, along with Abby Tracy and Rachel Edwards, are all returning sophomore members to the team. This class had a big impact on the team last year, and in order for a successful season, that needs to happen again. They add not only team experience, but also team leadership, which was greatly fueled by graduated senior Carly Brown.
“[Brown] bled purple. No one can replace her, so it’s up to us to add that passion and leadership,” said sophomore Mollie Waterhouse.
While passion and leadership are important, the cross country team has been hard at work not only mentally but also physically. During the off-season they have been working on improving their speed work and endurance and it’s already paying off. Head coach April Likhite has already led her team to a win, taking home the first-place title at the 2009 Huskies Open.
With so many injuries, one returning senior and with key runners graduated, the outlook on the 2009-2010 Women’s XC program is unsure. However, with such a great start and strong showings from the freshman, the Wildcats may be in for their best season yet.-Tayler Loyd
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Field Hockey
Northwestern field hockey fans didn’t know what to expect with new head coach Tracey Fuchs taking over a team that only won seven games last year, one third of the games they played. Fuchs has quickly transformed the team’s attitude, bringing in an entirely new coaching staff to change the team’s losing culture.
Another newcomer, sophomore star Chelsea Armstrong, has been crucial to the team’s quick 6-2 start since transferring from the University of Western Australia. Through the first eight games of the season, Armstrong has accounted for 12 goals already, half of the team’s total. She has also tied for the team lead with three assists. Fuchs is quick to praise Armstrong.
“She makes an immediate impact,” Fuchs said. “She’s really, really quick and she has excellent skills. She’s very versatile and can play upfront or in the midfield or in the back.”
Armstrong is optimistic about the team’s future after the strong start, with dreams that previously would seem impossible for the ‘Cats.
“We’re off to a good start and the rest of the season should follow suit,” Armstrong said. “Hopefully we can win a few more games than we did last year and make a better Big Ten appearance, and maybe make it to NCAAs.”
Fuchs hopes the balance and consistency across the board will carry the team to a successful season. Although Armstrong has dominated the start of the season, Fuchs thinks that the team has bright spots everywhere.
“We are pretty balanced in our lines. Our forwards are where we have the most talent. Courtney [Plaster-Strange] and Liz [Dobbs] are talented seniors and we have an Aussie [Armstrong] who has tallied some good numbers in our first few games,” Fuchs said.
Plaster-Strange and Dobbs have also started the season strong, combining for four goals and five assists through the first eight games.
Assistant coaches April Fronzoni and Carla Tagliente are also both new to the team. While Fronzoni joined the Wildcats staff last year as a volunteer assistant coach, this will be her first season as a full-time assistant coach. Tagliente previously worked with the field hockey teams at Iowa and Michigan. Fuchs hopes the new coaching staff can change the team’s philosophy en route to winning more games.
She said that she is looking forward to improving “most importantly our philosophy, just work hard every day, which I think our kids have done. Just get into the lead. They’re talented and can do really great things if they can put their minds to it.” -Nathan Lipkin
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Football
If bowl game history tells us anything, it’s that the Northwestern football team is destined for great things this season. Since 2004, three of four teams have parlayed strong Alamo Bowl appearances into a BCS bowl berth the next year. Following the trip to San Antonio, Ohio State (2004) made the Fiesta Bowl, and both Michigan (2005) and Penn State (2007) earned berths in the Rose Bowl in post-Alamo years.
Rather than looking to the past, however, the Wildcats are ready for the season ahead of them.
“Our young men are excited about [the upcoming season],” head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We’ve had a very driven, focused offseason.”
One key to a successful season will be moving forward without key members of last year’s squad, including quarterback C.J. Bacher and running back Tyrell Sutton, last year’s leaders in passing and rushing, respectively. Charged with replacing them are senior Mike Kafka and junior Stephen Simmons, respectively.
Kafka’s passing has improved this offseason, and he brings mobility to the quarterback position. Simmons should be a good fit for Northwestern’s spread offense. True freshman running back Arby Fields, who is reminding many observers of Sutton (and not only because he and Sutton share #19), is expected to contribute a great deal.
“We’re going to do the best job we can to showcase his talent,” Fitzgerald said.
The good news for the Wildcats is that, in stark contrast to their offensive skill positions, they return many of their defensive starters, headlined by senior defensive end Corey Wootton. Senior safety Brendan Smith and senior cornerback Sherrick McManis also return to anchor an especially strong secondary. Fitzgerald said that he is excited to have eight returning starters on defense, led by Wootton.
If the Wildcats want to jump to the front of the pack in the Big Ten, they’ll have to do so in a very deep conference. While common knowledge says that the big dogs in the conference are the Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions, the rest of the pecking order is up in the air. The only other Big Ten team ranked in the Top 25 is Iowa, at #22 in the AP Poll.
Out of the 11 winnable games on the schedule, the Wildcats’ biggest test will come in a Week 7-11 stretch that has them playing at Michigan State, home against Penn State and on the road against Iowa and Illinois. The key games in that stretch will be against established Michigan State and Iowa teams, and an experienced, hungry and athletic Illinois team.
If the Wildcats want to improve on last year’s top five finish in the Big Ten, it will have to win at least two of these games. Although a BCS bowl berth is unlikely, the future for the Wildcats is promising, and a nine or ten-win season, another bowl game appearance and a Top 25 finish are strong possibilities.-Kevin Echavarria
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Men’s Soccer
The Northwestern men’s soccer team hopes to continue on its past successes in the upcoming season. Last season saw the team ascend to a #2 national ranking and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. “We set some standards that need to be met every year,” said senior captain Mark Blades.
In order to live up to some of these high expectations, however, the Wildcats have some work to do after losing the most successful senior class in school history, five of whom were starters. Still, do not expect the word “rebuild” to be associated with this team. Instead, this squad is looking to revamp its image coming off of last year.
“You reinvent yourselves,” head coach Tim Lenahan said. “That’s what we’re in the process of doing.”
Fortunately, this squad seems to be well-equipped to keep up the success of the past few seasons, due in large part to the returning players. Seniors Blades and Misha Rosenthal, who ranked fourth nationally last year in goals against average, return to lead a defense that was the best in the Big Ten a year ago. On offense, the Wildcats return junior Matt Eliason, who led the team in goals and points, and sophomore Oliver Kupe, who emerged late last season as a valuable member of the team.
The Wildcats come into this season with two goals: to win the Big Ten championship and make the NCAA tournament.
“Every year our goal is to win the Big Ten,” said Blades. This is no easy feat considering the strength of all the teams in the conference. Rosenthal added, “Every game, whether it’s the first place team or the last place team, is […] a fight.”
Lenahan added that “our goal is to make the NCAA tournament. That’s pretty much it. If you do that, then anything can happen, once you get to November and December, as we’ve proved the last couple of years.” -Kevin Echavarria
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Women’s Soccer
Coach Stephanie Erickson knows a thing or two about setting goals. Hopefully the talent of Erickson, Northwestern’s all-time leading scorer, will rub off on the players as she enters her fourth season at the helm of the Wildcats.
She leads a team that she said she believes has “more experience than ever before” and that “[the team’s] tactical ideas are a little more sophisticated and dynamic.”
Northwestern, after finishing in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten last season, will be looking for freshman Briana Westlund and senior Kay Sampson to help guide the team through the ever-difficult waters that is the Big Ten conference.
Sampson, a walk-on as a true freshman, says she feels Northwestern has a good chance to get a bid for the NCAA tournament because “there are many games remaining and we have a coach who knows exactly what it takes.” Sampson helped her cause against Loyola Chicago, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime.
“We now have a win under our belt and we need to move forward with our momentum,” she said.
It is evident in the constancy of the word “we” in the voices of the players that Coach Erickson is a unifier. Her school spirit translates in her discussions with her team.
“I have to be a constant student of the game. [...] It is all about inspiring and motivating [my players],” said Erickson. “There is even more pressure coaching the team I once played for, but I want to honor my teammates and it is more rewarding to see results.”
Despite their current record of 3-4-1, panic is far from the reigning mood. Recalling one of Erickson’s more memorable speeches, Sampson remembers the coach talking about her time as a member of the very first women’s team at NU.
“It doesn’t matter who is the better team skill-wise,” Erickson told her current group. “It is who has more heart and works harder.”
Asked how she would feel if any of her records were to be broken, Erickson replied that she “would be psyched. It would mean more goals.” -Ben Purdy
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Volleyball
The Northwestern women’s volleyball squad looks to improve on past seasons in 2009 with one of its most experienced, yet still young and promising, squads ever.
Head coach Keylor Chan is especially excited about his outside hitters, with four players who earned significant experience last season returning. Senior Ariel Baxterback, junior Brittani Gray and sophomores Alexandra Ayers and Madalyn Shalter will receive primary playing time. Baxterback is hoping she can overcome knee injuries and build off of last year’s monster season, when she recorded 133 kills and 23 blocks.
It is the balance of the team, though, that gives Chan hope.
“Our biggest strength of this year’s team is definitely our balance,” Chan said. “The truly successful teams can’t be reliant on solely one player, and our team knows that each player has a role to play and is willing to assume it.”
Junior Elyse Glab hopes to emerge as one of the best setters in the country, after contributing 1,101 assists last season. Glab is already seventh all-time in Northwestern history with 2,310 assists after only two seasons with the program.
Like Glab, senior Kate Nobilio should continue to progress as one of the nation’s best at the libero position, or defensive specialist. Nobilio is already the program’s all-time digs leader with 1,665, and still has her senior year to build on that record.
Nibilio and Baxterback are the only seniors on the team, giving the program hope for both the present and the future. The ‘Cats have jumped to a 6-3 start, and can expect to build on any success they have this season when they return almost their entire roster next season.
Chan hopes that the team will not forget its dismal 8-23 record from last season, when the ‘Cats went 2-18 in Big Ten play.
“We don’t dwell on the adversity we had last year, but at the same time I don’t think anyone on the team has forgotten how last year felt,” said Chan. “The most important thing when you have a down year is to learn from it and grow.” -Zach Von Eschen
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