Northwestern
Michigan
Northwestern Welcomes Michigan in Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal
11/2/2023 3:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern opens postseason play at Martin Stadium with a Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal matchup against Michigan. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on Friday on B1G+.
After earning the No. 4-seed, Northwestern will host its first Big Ten Tournament game since 2019. Russell Payne is seeking his second Big Ten Tournament Semifinal berth in three years.
Northwestern has its best record through 16 games since 2008, when it started 12-2-2.
Northwestern's 1.69 goals per game ranks second in the Big Ten. 12 different Wildcats have tallied a goal this season.
Justin Weiss leads the Big Ten in Shots (46), Shots on Goal (24), Assists (7), and ranks second in Goals (7) and Points (21). The Syosset, N.Y. native ranks 26th nationally in assists (7) and 38th nationally in points (21).
Weiss is one of just seven players nationally with at 7+ assists and 7+ goals. (Eliot Goldthrop- Hofstra, Roberto Ordonez- Cal St. Fullerton, Matthew Bell- Marshall, Ousmane Sylla- Clemson, Bart Muns- UIC, James Morris- Seattle U).
Nigel Prince has logged 1,434 of 1,440 possible minutes this season (99.6%).
Northwestern has used 13 unique starting lineups across 16 games.
Friday's meeting will be the 38th all-time meeting between Northwestern and Michigan. Michigan leads the all-time series 22-11-4. Last time out, Michigan came away with a 3-0 win in the regular season finale.
Michigan enters Friday's meeting as the No. 5-seed after posting a 4-5-7 regular season record and 2-1-5 mark in Big Ten play. Bryce Blevins (four goals, three assists) and Alex Waggoner (five goals) power the Wolverines offensively, while Isaiah Goldson handles goalkeeping duties for U-M, posting a 1.39 goals against average and a .729 save percentage.
The winner of Friday's quarterfinal advances to face the winner of No. 1-seed Indiana and No. 8-seed Wisconsin at a campus site to be determined on Wednesday, November 8.
