NORTHWESTERN YEAR IN REVIEW: 2007-2008

	WILDCATS: YEAR IN REVIEW

Team	Big Ten finish
W Soccer	Season: 6th Record: 9-7-4, 4-4-2
M Soccer	Season: 3rd Record: 12-5-3, 3-2-1
W cross country	Big Ten's: 10th
Football	Season: 10th Record: 6-6, 3-5
Field hockey	Season: 7th Record: 4-14, 0-6
Volleyball	Season: 5th Record: 18-13, 9-11
Swim. & diving	Men: 6th Women: 5th
Wrestling	Big Ten's: 8th
M basketball	Season: 11th Record: 8-22, 1-17
W basketball	Season: 11th Record: 5-26, 1-17
Golf	Men: 6th Women: 7th
W lacrosse	NCAA champions
Tennis	Men: 11th Women: 1st
Baseball	Season: 7th Record: 21-28, 14-18
Softball	Season: T-1st Record: 40-16, 18-2

Women's cross country
Northwestern finished 10th at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships with a score of 288. The 10th-place finish was the 'Cats' highest in three seasons.

The team's season continued on at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, where the Wildcats improved on last year's 17th-place finish, coming in 15th place.

The race marked the end of the Wildcats' 2007 season, but the 'Cats look to continue their improvement in the 2008 season, as they graduate just four seniors and bring back some of their top runners from this past year.

Field hockey
Northwestern wrapped up the regular season with a pair of road games against Iowa and Indiana, which ended in close losses.

The Wildcats looked to get their first win against a conference opponent when they faced Michigan State to open their play at the Big Ten Tournament. Annie Bosslet's tip-in on a shot by Stephanie Fortson was not enough as NU fell 4-1 to end their season.

Of note, for the first time since 2000, Northwestern earned a first-team All-Big Ten selection, as well as a second-team selection. Senior Amanda Care is one of four first-team defensive selections and Alex Quinn made the second team as a forward.

Men's soccer
The Northwestern men's soccer program continued to establish itself as a force both in the Big Ten Conference and nationally during the 2007 season.

The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten tournament, and easily handled sixth-seeded Wisconsin 3-1 in the opening round. The win set up a match with Ohio State, the No. 2 seed. The Buckeyes would net a goal early in the second half and NU was unable to convert on a number of scoring chances in falling 1-0 to OSU.

Northwestern earned the No. 9 national seed, its highest ever, and a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament. Facing off against another local foe in Illinois-Chicago, the Wildcats saw their season come to an end with a 2-0 loss.

Women's soccer
The 2007 campaign was a special season for Northwestern women's soccer as the Wildcats opened the brand new Lakeside Field.

With the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute over Purdue. However, the Boilermakers rattled off three unanswered goals to eliminate the Wildcats with a 3-1 victory.

Although the 'Cats entered the discussions of the NCAA Tournament committee, the Wildcats did not receive an at-large bid.

Football
Northwestern entered its regular-season finale with bowl aspirations, but the Wildcats' postseason chances took a big hit with their 41-22 loss at 20th-ranked Illinois. 

In the end, the Wildcats were one of two Big Ten bowl eligible teams, along with Iowa, to be left out of the postseason fun. Not to be overlooked, though, was the improvement the team continued to make under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, starting with a 4-8 campaign in 2006 and then gaining bowl-eligibility with a 6-6 mark. Also in 2007, Northwestern returned to the top of the league in offense, leading the Big Ten in total offense for the regular season. 

It was pretty impressive work, especially when you consider the Wildcats did most of the damage without the services of star running back Tyrell Sutton for much of the season. With Sutton out, that's when quarterback C.J. Bacher really picked up his game. Bacher, who threw for 3,656 yards on the season, amassed a combined 990 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and no turnovers in back-to-back wins against Michigan State and Minnesota, both without Sutton. 

After the season, perhaps the biggest news around Northwestern surfaced as Fitzgerald was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The only two-time winner of both the Chuck Bednarik and Bronco Nagurski Awards, Fitzgerald was the heart of the Northwestern defense that led the Wildcats to their first Rose Bowl in 47 years.

Volleyball
Northwestern turned in an 18-13 mark in 2007, tying for the second-most wins and setting the second-best winning percentage (.581) in head coach Keylor Chan's eight-year tenure.

The Wildcats entered the final weekend of the year with a shot at finishing third in the conference with two wins, but NU split its final matches against Indiana and Purdue and instead ended up in fifth place.

Despite Northwestern's impressive body of work over the course of the season, including a strong finish with several marquee wins, the NCAA committee opted to leave the Wildcats at home come tourney time.

Men's swimming & diving
The 2007-08 season proved Northwestern still has what it takes to dominate the pool despite
graduating the two best swimmers in school history last spring. Led by seniors Kyle Bubolz and Bruno Barbic, the Wildcats turned in solid efforts throughout their dual and championship meet campaigns and took 12th place at the NCAA Championships with a four-man contingent.

At the Big Ten Championships, where the Wildcats finished in 6th, Bubolz was a member of every relay team except the 800 free, and he earned his fourth Big Ten conference title in an NCAA 'B' time of 19.64 in the finals of the 50 free. Bubolz went on to grab five All-America awards at the NCAA Championships in the 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 and 400 free relays.

Women's swimming & diving
The women's swimming and diving season was highlighted by head coach Jimmy Tierney being 
named the Big Ten's Coach of the Year after his team virtually rewrote the entire Northwestern record book at the Big Ten Championships.

The team broke 10 school records and picked up two conference titles. Senior Andrea Hupman
led the team's endeavors by earning more school records than any other 'Cat setting three
individual school records in her signature freestyle sprint events.

Wrestling
Senior heavyweight Dustin Fox went into the Big Ten Championships with something to prove. A late dual loss cost him the top seed and his No. 1 ranking. Fox avenged his earlier loss by major decision in the semifinals and scored a convincing victory over top-seeded JD Bergman of Ohio State in the finals for his first career Big Ten title.

As a team, Northwestern finished in an eighth-place tie with Indiana in the team standings and qualified six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.

Fox and Bergman met again in the NCAA Championship, and  for the second-straight year, a Wildcat brought championship hardware back to Evanston. Fox survived a cut head and bloody nose to top second-seeded Bergman in a sudden victory, 4-2.

Men's basketball
Probably the biggest story around Northwestern was the absence of Kevin Coble in the first half of the season. Coble spent the non-conference portion of the schedule in Arizona with his mother, who was undergoing cancer treatment. But Coble was back in action come Big Ten play, and the Wildcat faithful greeted him with a standing ovation and chanted "Kevin Coble!" upon his entrance into the game.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, there wasn't much else to cheer about during the 2007-08 season. Northwestern had its moments, in particular in the first half of games, but its struggles late in games led to its disappointing 1-17 Big Ten season.  

The one win was in exciting (not to mention nail-biting) fashion. The Wildcats were in control early and led, 36-25, at halftime, only to see Michigan rally and take a 60-59 lead with over minute left. But as was the case all night, Craig Moore came through by draining his school-record eighth 3-pointer to seal Northwestern's 62-60 victory on Feb. 26 at Crisler Arena.

In the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern was in the process of potentially pulling off a first-round upset, leading by as many as 16 points, until Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers turned it on in the second half to eliminate the Wildcats, 55-52.

Following the season, Coble was honored for his performance with honorable mention honors on the All-Big Ten Team.

Women's basketball
Similar to the men's season, the Northwestern women's basketball team had a tough season in
conference play.

They were able to send their seniors Nadia Bibbs, Melissa Miller and Sara Stutz off in style, on senior day, defeating Penn State 70-58 to earn their only conference win of the season.

To complete their season, the women lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to Indiana, 74-52.

Shortly after the season ended, head coach Beth Combs announced her resignation from the program. A search for her successor is still ongoing.

Golf
At the Big Ten Men's Golf Championships, Northwestern shot a final-round 15-over 303 to finish the
tournament tied with Ohio State for sixth place.

Sophomore David Lipsky led NU on Sunday with a 2-over 74, finishing in a tie with teammate Jonathan Bowers for 13th place overall in the individual standings with a 72-hole total of 10-over 298.

On the women's side, the Wildcats shot a 310 on the final day of the Big Ten Championships to finish at 74-over for the four-day event, edging out Iowa and Minnesota by five strokes and taking seventh place.

Freshman Kelsey Lindenschmidt was the top Wildcat performer since the opening round and led NU with a 20-over 308 (75-76-78-79) for the 72-hole tournament, good enough for a 28th-place tie.

Men's tennis
Northwestern men's tennis saw an early exit from the Big Ten Championship after a 4-0 first-round loss to Indiana. The Wildcats finished the season 7-17 overall.

Northwestern will work hard to make a turnaround for next season. Head coach Arvid Swan and his staff already have made several adjustments that earned the Wildcats a top-11 recruiting class heading into next season.

Women's tennis
The women's tennis team continued it's dominant play by winning its record-breaking 10th-consecutive Big Ten title, while holding down the No. 1 national ranking for most of the season.

The Wildcats swept Illinois-Chicago and Indiana and lost one set to Fresno State on their path to reach the quarterfinals. A win over Cal and the team would advance to their first NCAA Championship semifinals appearance.

It was with shock that the No. 1 Wildcats fell short of its bid for a national title falling 4-2 to Cal bring the team's season to an end.

Softball
For the second time in the last three years, Northwestern softball won the Big Ten championship and played host to the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

After taking down Ohio and Minnesota, in the opening rounds of the tournament, the Wildcats found themselves in the championship game against Iowa. Sophomore Lauren Delaney fired her third straight Big Ten Tournament shutout, and Erin Dyer's fourth-inning solo home run was all the team needed to win the tournament title.

Fresh off their title, Northwestern was tabbed the No. 11 overall seed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Delaney threw a one-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts, and Northwestern hit a trio of home runs to defeat Western Illinois, 6-0, in the first round of the NCAA Regional to advance to the Evanston Regional winner's bracket.

After No. 19 DePaul took No. 11 Northwestern to an if-necessary game in the championship of the NCAA Evanston Regional, the Wildcats came back and held off the Blue Demons, 3-2, to advance to the Super Regional against Arizona State. A win would earn the team its third-straight trip to the Women's College World Series.

Arizona State defeated the Wildcats, 3-1, in the first game of the NCAA Super Regional putting the Wildcats a game down in the best-of-3 series. Game two did not go much better, as the Wildcats (40-16) fell, 9-0, to miss out on the Women's College World series for the first time in three years.

Baseball
Northwestern's bid for a berth in the Big Ten Tournament ended in its regular-season finale against conference champ Michigan. The Wolverines topped the Wildcats, 11-2, to end Northwestern's season with a 21-28 overall record.

Northwestern was represented by three individuals when the 2008 All-Big Ten Baseball Teams were announced. Sophomore first baseman Jake Goebbert and freshman starting pitcher Eric Jokisch were named to the second team, while senior outfielder Mike Kalina was a third-team selection. In addition, Jokisch was honored as the conference's Freshman of the Year.

Women's lacrosse
Northwestern continued its dominance of the American Lacrosse Conference as the Wildcats shut down eighth-ranked Vanderbilt 14-3 to capture their sixth straight ALC title.

As the number one seed overall, Northwestern set out for their fourth-straight NCAA Lacrosse
Championship facing familiar foe Notre Dame. The Wildcats topped the Fighting Irish in early
April and topped them again in round one, 15-7.

The Wildcats went on to defeat Princeton and Syracuse and land in the NCAA Championship game
against Penn. With a score of 10-6, Northwestern beat Penn and took home their fourth-straight
championship trophy becaming only the second team to win four consecutive women's lacrosse
national titles.

Information for this report was provided by nusports.com and bigten.org.

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