NU Wraps Up Homestand This Weekend

The Nebraska soccer team looks to rebound from its first loss in almost a month when it hosts Texas Tech and Baylor this weekend to wrap up a four-game homestand.

The Huskers extended their winning streak to seven consecutive games with a thrilling 4-3 win over Texas last Friday, but then dropped a tough 2-1 decision to seventh-ranked Texas A&M on Sunday. It was NU's first loss since a 1-0 loss to Stanford on Sept. 12.

Junior Nikki Baker had a career day against Texas, scoring two goals and adding two assists. She established career highs with two assists and six points and tied her career high by scoring two goals. Baker also notched her second straight game with two goals and her second consecutive game-winning goal. Her two assists were also her first two assists of the season. Baker now has 20 points for the season, which ties her career best for points in a season, set as a freshman in 2002.

Sophomore Brittany Timko also had a fine weekend, netting a goal and two assists. She recorded at least one point in both games, increasing her streak of consecutive games with at least one point to eight straight. Timko currently leads the Big 12 Conference in goals with 13, points with 38 and is second with 12 assists. Timko also ranks in the top 10 in the nation in goals, assists and points.

Against Texas last Friday, Nebraska surrendered its fastest goal of the year when the Longhorns took a 1-0 just 3:05 into the game. In a game that featured plenty of flurries, NU scored back-to-back goals just 43 seconds apart, and after the Huskers took a 3-1 lead, Texas answered right back just 50 seconds later. After scoring five combined goals in the first half, each team only found the back of the net once in the second half, as NU held off the Longhorns, 4-3, in the highest-scoring meeting between the two teams.

Junior Sasha Andrews scored Nebraska's lone goal against Texas A&M in the 22nd minute. The Aggies' comeback marked the first time in nine games this season that NU lost after leading at the half.

Scouting Texas Tech (3-11, 0-6)
Texas Tech is still searching for its first Big 12 Conference win after losing 4-2 to Oklahoma State and dropping a 2-1 decision to Oklahoma last weekend.

Offensively, the Red Raiders are led by Priscilla Esquivel and Jenifer Thomas. Equivel leads the team with seven goals and 14 points, while Thomas leads the team with five assists and has 11 points. Esquivel and Thomas are the only Red Raiders to total more than five points in 2004.

Ashley Reed, who has only five points this season, enjoyed a breakout game against Oklahoma State last weekend, recording a goal and an assist.

In goal, Texas Tech has started three goalkeepers. Megan Knauss has started four games, while Beth Lippert and Tina Rincon have each started five games.

Lippert got the start against Oklahoma State last weekend and recorded nine saves while allowing four goals. Knauss started against Oklahoma and allowed only two goals while recording seven saves.

For the season, Knauss leads the team with a 1.65 goals-against average and Lippert and Rincon are tied for the team lead with 35 saves.

Last Time We Met
In last year's meeting between Nebraska and Texas Tech, the Red Raiders jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal in the 21st minute. Nebraska's Jessie Bruch tied the game in the 37th minute and NU scored twice in the second half to earn a 3-1 victory, the 10th straight Husker victory in the series.

Senior Lindsey Ingram and junior Aly Scace each recorded an assist in last year's meeting and sophomore Katie Wright made one save in net.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 10-0-0.

Scouting Baylor (4-7-2, 1-4-1)
Baylor fell to Oklahoma, 2-1, last Friday, but rebounded to tie defending Big 12 Tournament champion Oklahoma State, 2-2, last Sunday.

The Bears are led offensively by Anna Schuch, who leads the team with five assists and 13 points, and is second on the team with four goals. Tiffany Boshers leads Baylor with five goals and 17 shots on goal.

Against Oklahoma last weekend, Boshers scored the only Baylor goal of the game off an assist from Rose Zapata, her first point of the season. Jennifer Martin notched a goal and an assist against Oklahoma State and Jessica Hutton tied the game with her second goal of the season in the 78th minute.

In goal, Ashley Holder has logged over 1,000 minutes and has recorded 66 saves, tops in the Big 12 Conference. She has allowed 22 goals in 12 games for a goals-against average of 1.81.

Last Time We Met
Baylor beat Nebraska for just the second time in 12 meetings last year. The Bears scored two second half goals just 36 seconds apart and held on down the stretch for a 2-1 victory.

The goals marked the shortest span between goals by a Nebraska opponent in school history.

Nikki Baker was the only Husker to find the back of the net. Kari Hogan recorded an assist on Baker's goal.

In goal, Brooke Bredenberg made three saves while allowing three goals.

Nebraska leads the all-time series against Baylor, 10-2-0.

Last Week
Nebraska went 1-1 last week, defeating Texas, 4-3, before falling to Texas A&M, 2-1.
In the highest-scoring contest between the two teams, Nebraska erased a 1-0 deficit to hold on for the victory against the Longhorns.

Kelly McDonald scored just 3:05 into the game, the fastest goal NU has allowed this season. The Huskers answered back with back-to-back goals 43 seconds apart to take the lead for good. In the final furry of a frantic first half, sophomore Brittany Timko scored off assists from juniors Nikki Baker and Katie Bunkers to put Nebraska up 3-1. Texas answered back just 50 seconds later.

Each team managed one goal in the second half, as Texas pulled to within 4-3 in the 75th minute. UT applied offensive pressure for the remaining 15 minutes, but was unable to score.

Baker had a career day against Texas, scoring two goals and adding two assists. She established career highs with two assists and six points and tied her career high by scoring two goals. Baker also notched her second straight game with two goals and her second consecutive game-winning goal. Her two assists were also her first two assists of the season. Baker now has 20 points for the season, which ties her career best for points in a season, which she set as a freshman in 2002.

Timko added a goal and an assist in the win.

Against Texas A&M, Timko assisted on a goal by junior Sasha Andrews to put Nebraska up 1-0 at the half.

The Huskers, which entered the game 9-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when scoring first, appeared to be in good shape, but the Aggies wore down NU in the second half.

Ashlee Pistorius scored in the 53rd minute and Carrie Berend added the game winner in the 81st minute, as Texas A&M took control of the Big 12 Conference title race.

Scoring Streak
Sophomore Brittany Timko has been on an incredible run over her last eight games. The Coquitlam, British Columbia, native has scored 10 goals and notched eight assists during that stretch. She has recorded at least one point in each of the last eight games after totaling three points Friday against Texas and one point against Texas A&M Sunday.

Timko got the streak started in grand fashion, scoring three goals and adding three assists against Northern Colorado on Sept. 17. Two days later against Montana, Timko produced another goal and an assist.

Against in-state rival Creighton on Sept. 21, Timko notched another goal and an assist in the Huskers’ 3-2 win. In the Big 12 Conference opener against Kansas, Timko scored the only goal of the game and followed that performance by scoring three goals against Iowa State on Sept. 26.

Timko had a hand in six straight Nebraska goals Sept. 21-26. She scored the game-tying goal against Creighton on Sept. 21, then added the game-winning assist. She then scored the game-winning goal in Nebraska’s 1-0 win over eighth-ranked Kansas on Sept. 24 before scoring all three of the Huskers’ goals in a 3-2 win over Iowa State.

Against Missouri Oct. 1, it looked as though Timko's point streak would come to an end. She did not have a goal or an assist through regulation, but recorded her fourth game-winning assist of the season in the second overtime to keep her point streak in tact.

Since the Huskers' opening weekend, when she didn't record a point, Timko has been outstanding.

In Nebraska's 12 games following its two-game opening weekend, Timko has had a hand in 25 of the Huskers' 33 goals, with 13 goals and 12 assists.

In the last eight games, Timko has had a hand in 18 of NU's 23 goals.

Double Trouble
Sophomore Brittany Timko has already notched a double-double with 13 goals and 12 assists 14 games into the 2004 season.

Timko's 13 goals lead the nation and her 12 assists rank second in the Big 12 and eighth in the nation.

She is the first Husker to record a double-double in a season since Christine Latham (23 goals, 11 assists) accomplished the feat in 2000.

Huskers Add Player
NU Head Coach John Walker announced last week that freshman Ashley Haas, who competed for a spot on the team during open tryouts in September, would be a member of the Huskers.

Haas, a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., suited up for both of Nebraska's games last weekend, but did not play. She will play forward and midfielder for the Huskers.

Wright Notches Assist
Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Wright was on the other end of the goal-scoring game last Friday against Texas.

Along with trying to stop goals, Wright helped create a goal for Nebraska. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native sent a long kick that sophomore Brittany Timko tapped to Nikki Baker for a goal. It was the first assist and point of Wright's career.

Nail-Biters
The Nebraska soccer team has played in seven straight one-goal games, posting a 6-1 record over that stretch. For the season, 10 of the Huskers' 14 games (71 percent) have been decided by one goal. NU has a 6-4 record in those games.

All of Nebraska's losses this season have been by one goal, with three of those losses coming to ranked teams. The Huskers have dropped 1-0 decisions to second-ranked North Carolina and No. 16 Stanford and lost to No. 7 Texas A&M, 2-1, Sunday.

Starting Strong
Over the past eight games, NU has been particularly successful in the first half. The Huskers have outscored their opponents, 17-3, in the first half and have outshot their opponents, 81-39, in the first 45 minutes.

NCAA Rankings
In the latest NCAA statistical rankings, released Oct. 11, sophomore Brittany Timko finds herself in the top 10 in four categories and in the top 20 in five categories.

Timko ranks second with 12 assists and a point per game average of 2.71, is third with an assist per game average of 0.86 and is sixth with 12 goals. She also ranks 16th with a 0.93 goals per game average.

Timko also ranks fourth in the country for most assists in a game. Timko had three against Northern Colorado and also against Eastern Illinois. She also ranks sixth in points in a single game with nine, coming against Northern Colorado.

Huskers vs. Ranked Foes
Nebraska has faced four ranked teams in 2004, dropping a season-opening heartbreaker to the defending national champion and top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 1-0, on Aug. 27. Nebraska also lost a 1-0 decision to Stanford, which was unranked at game time but is currently ranked 16th.

The Huskers lone win came against eighth-ranked Kansas on Sept. 24. The win broke a two-game losing streak against top 25 teams.

Nebraska owns a 32-29-3 (.531) all-time record against ranked opponents after suffering a 2-1 loss to seventh-ranked Texas A&M on Sunday.

Players of the Week
Junior Nikki Baker was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The award was the fourth Big 12 offensive player-of-the-week honor and fifth player-of-the-week honor of this season for Nebraska. Both are league highs.

Sophomore Brittany Timko was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for a third time this season on Sept. 28.

Timko was honored after scoring five goals, including two game winners, adding a game-winning assist and totaling 11 points in the Huskers' three games the week of Sept. 21.

Timko also earned player-of-the-week honors on Sept. 21, and is the first player in school history to earn three player-of-the-week awards in the same season.

Timko and sophomore goalkeeper Katie Wright each earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors for the week of Sept. 7. Timko was named the offensive player of the week and Wright was named the defensive player of the week.

Timko is also the only player in the nation to be named to Soccer America's National Team of the Week and Soccer Buzz's Elite Team of the Week three times in 2004. She was named to the teams in each of the weeks she was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

Records Watch
Sophomore Brittany Timko is off to a stellar start in 2004 with 13 goals, 12 assists and 38 points through 14 games. At her current pace, Timko could challenge several of Nebraska's single-season records.

Projecting her totals through the regular season, one Big 12 Tournament game and one NCAA Tournament game, Timko is on pace to finish with 54 points, which would rank her fourth on the NU single-season chart.

On pace to score 20 goals, Timko has already entered the single-season top 10 and is on pace to finish in fifth place in school history for goals in a season.

Perhaps most impressive is the number of assists Timko has racked up. The Coquitlam, British Columbia, native has 12 assists this season and is already eighth on the single-season chart.

If she can maintain here average of nearly one assist per game, Timko would finish with 17 assists, which would tie the single-season school record.

Timko has also recorded four game-winning assists this season and is just one shy of moving into the top spot in that category. She also has posted three game-winning goals, just two away from entering the top 10 and five shy of the record.

Big 12 Rankings
The Nebraska soccer team ranks in the top five in the Big 12 Conference in 10 categories.

As a team, Nebraska ranks third in shots (245), second in goals (35), fifth in assists (27), third in points (97), third in goals per game (2.50), fifth in assists per game (1.93), third in shutouts (four) and first in corner kicks (98).

From an individual standpoint, sophomore Brittany Timko leads the league in points (38), goals (13), shots (64), shots per game (4.57), points per game (2.71) and goals per game (0.93) and ranks second in assists (12), game-winning goals (three) and assists per game (0.86).

Junior Nikki Baker ranks 10th in shots (34), fifth in points (20), third in goals (nine), second in game-winning goals (three) and fourth in goals per game (0.64), while senior Lindsey Ingram ranks 10th in assists (four).

Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Wright ranks in the top five of every goalkeeping category. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native ranks third in shutouts (four) and shutouts per game (0.29), fourth in saves (59) and fifth in goals-against average (1.20), save percentage (.804) and saves per game (4.21).

Around the Big 12
Through four weeks of Big 12 play, Texas A&M sits comfortably in first place with a 7-0 record and 21 points. Nebraska and Kansas are tied for second with 4-1 records and 12 points. Iowa State is the only other team with a winning record in league play.

In action last week, Texas A&M went on the road and beat defending Big 12 regular-season champion Colorado and handed Nebraska its first conference loss of the season.

Oklahoma defeated Baylor and Texas Tech to pick up its first two conference victories and improve to 2-2-1 in the Big 12 and 6-4-3 overall. Fourth-place Texas lost a 4-3 decision to the Huskers and tied Colorado 1-1. Kansas kept in the hunt for the title with a 3-1 win over MIssouri, led by a defense that has only allowed five goals in 16 games this season.

Texas Tech went 0-2 last weekend and remains the only winless team in conference play, while Baylor managed to tie defending Big 12 Tournament champion Oklahoma State to earn its fourth point in the league standings.

With only three weeks remaining in the regular season, it appears to be a three-team race between Texas A&M, Kansas and Nebraska, with Texas A&M holding the biggest edge. A&M has played two more league games than the Jayhawks and Huskers and has 21 points, while KU and NU each have 12 points.

Kansas travels to Texas A&M Oct. 22 in a game that will have title implications for both teams.

Up Next
After Nebraska wraps up its four-game homestand this weekend, the Huskers will hit the road for the last time in the regular season. NU is set to travel to Oklahoma State on Friday, Oct. 22 and to Oklahoma on Sunday, Oct. 24.

Following those games, the Huskers will host Colorado on Oct. 29 in the final game of the regular season.

Head Coach John Walker
Nebraska Head Coach John Walker is in his 11th year as coach of the Huskers. Since starting the program in 1994, Walker has posted an impressive 182-47-8 record, recording his 175th career victory in a 3-0 win over Purdue on Sept. 5.

His .785 winning percentage ranks fourth among all Division I active coaches and his 182 victories rank 26th among active coaches.

Walker’s teams have won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament for eight consecutive seasons and have finished the season in the NSCAA/adidas top 25 poll in each of the last eight seasons.

Under Walker, the Huskers have become a perennial power. He has led the team to three Big 12 regular-season titles and five Big 12 Tournament titles since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, including a sweep of both titles in 1999 and 2000.

The Streak
The 2004 Nebraska soccer team is looking to continue an impressive streak that began in 1996.

In every season since 1996 - a streak totaling eight seasons - the Huskers have not only made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but have won at least one game to advance to the second round. The 2004 Huskers are looking to make it nine straight this season.

Home Sweet Home
Nebraska, which is set to play a school-record 13 home games this season, wraps up a four-game homestand this weekend.

The Huskers have only six road games scheduled before the Big 12 Tournament and have already played four games away from Lincoln this season. Nebraska plays five of its last seven games at home, with only trips to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State remaining.

Nebraska is 6-4 at home this season.

On the Air
All of Nebraska’s home games in 2004 will be carried by KRNU and will be available on Huskers.com. The next broadcast is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 15, when Nebraska faces Texas Tech at 7 p.m. at the Abbott Sports Complex. The Huskers' game with Baylor at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 17, will also be carried by KRNU and carried live on Huskers.com.