Northwestern women play Milwaukee to 0-0 draw

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Gutsy goaltending and physical play helped Northwestern women’s soccer open its
season with a 0-0, double-overtime draw against Milwaukee Friday night at Lakeside Field.

Junior Sam Greene (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) hit the cross bar on a penalty kick
opportunity midway through the second overtime, essentially ensuring the game would end in a tie.

“As physically as that game was played you have to feel great about coming away with a tie,” said
Northwestern Head Coach Stephanie Erickson. “There was great competition that created a lot of
chances; now we’ll work on converting those as we move forward.”

After the first 85 minutes yielded few scoring opportunities on either side, the action picked up
dramatically in the final 25 minutes.

Carolyn Edwards (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) made three huge saves in net for the Wildcats,
including a leg save that denied Milwaukee’s Erin Kreuser a potential game-winner with 15 seconds
remaining in regulation. The NU senior also stopped a point-blank shot by the Panthers’ Sarah Hagen
early in the second overtime.

“The goalkeepers on both sides were game changing,” Erickson said. “Theirs made some great saves
and Carolyn had a couple of big time saves also. Our defense was gutsy, courageous and hard tonight
as well. It’s really special to start that way.”

Both teams took 16 shots on the contest, with Northwestern (0-0-1) putting five on goal to
Milwaukee’s (0-0-1) three. Greene led the NU offensive attack with two shots on target, while
seniors Alicia Herczeg (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura) and Kay Sampson (San Francisco, Calif./Drew
School) and sophomore Jill Dunn (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) each had a scoring opportunity as well.

The Wildcats return to the pitch at 1 p.m. Sunday when they travel to cross-town rival DePaul. NU’s
next home match is Friday, Sept. 4 against Loyola Chicago.