Great Efforts, Accomplishments Highlight Huskers' Season

The 2004 Nebraska soccer team ended a tremendous season on a high note, earning the program’s eighth trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in the past nine seasons.

 

Although the Huskers were unable to top a tough Illinois team, NU played with high levels of hard work, intensity and teamwork that became the staple of Nebraska’s season.

 

Illinois Head Coach Janet Rayfield said of this year’s Nebraska squad. “They played with as much heart as any team we have played all year and I give them credit for that." Rayfield’s words summed up the exceptional effort of a Husker team playing in honor of team captain Jenna Cooper, who was killed last April.

 

Brought together by everything Cooper stood for, the 2004 Huskers displayed great heart all season in putting together a 14-9 record and adding several more accomplishments to a program rich in tradition.

 

In 2004, the Nebraska soccer team:

• Advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive year.
• Won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth consecutive year.
• Advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in nine seasons.
• Won at least 13 games for the ninth straight season.
• Finished in the top five of the Big 12 Conference for the eighth consecutive year.
• Earned five Big 12 Player-of-the-Week awards.
• Saw Brittany Timko earn six selections to National Teams of the Week.
• Placed three players on the All-Big 12 first team (tying Kansas for the league-high), including Player-of-the-Year Brittany Timko.
• Placed five players on the academic All-Big 12 first and second teams.
• Had two players total 30 points in the same season for the first time since 2001.
• Broke three school records (shortest span between goals; most individual points and goals in the NCAA Tournament, Nikki Baker [4 goals, 8 points]) and tied another school record (individual game-winning assists, Brittany Timko [5]).
• Surpassed the 10,000-mark in attendance for the seventh time in the 11-year history of the program.
• Had three crowds of 1,000-plus, including the third-largest crowd in school history (3,620 vs. North Carolina).
• Topped the 100,000-mark in attendance in program history.
• Gave Coach John Walker his 175th career victory with a 3-0 win over 2003 Sweet 16 qualifier Purdue.
• Played a school-record 13 home games.

 

Quick Season Synopsis

Nebraska posted seven wins against just five losses versus teams that qualified for the 2004 NCAA Tournament. After suffering a tough 1-0 season-opening loss to defending national champion and top-ranked North Carolina, the Huskers ran off three straight victories, including back-to-back shutouts.

 

The weekend of Sept. 10 proved to be a minor setback, as the Huskers dropped a pair of games to Pacific and Stanford, but rebounded for the team’s longest winning streak of the season.

 

Following the back-to-back losses, NU picked up a pair of home victories before winning three road games the week of Sept. 20, fighting back for a 3-2 win at Creighton before upsetting ninth-ranked Kansas in Lawrence, 1-0. The Huskers picked up their third straight win by hanging on for a 3-2 victory at Iowa State. Against the Cyclones, sophomore forward/midfielder Brittany Timko scored all three goals, including back-to-back goals just 16 seconds apart, establishing the school record for shortest spans between goals.

 

Nebraska pushed its winning streak to six straight with its first overtime game of the year against Missouri. NU improved to a perfect 4-0 in the Big 12 with a victory over Texas on Oct. 8.

 

NU finished the regular season with just two wins in its final six games, but set the stage for its run in the NCAA Tournament by turning in one of the best efforts of the season in a 2-0 loss to Texas in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

 

The Huskers received good news on Nov. 6 when the NCAA Selection Committee announced Nebraska would stay close to home and travel to Lawrence, Kan., for the first and second rounds of the program’s ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament.

 

Junior Nikki Baker notched her first career hat trick and tied the Nebraska school record for most goals and points in an NCAA Tournament to lead the Huskers past Oral Roberts, 3-0, in the opening game of the tournament. Baker added the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Huskers to a 2-1 victory over the No. 8 national seed and host Kansas Jayhawks. Baker’s goal broke the Nebraska single-season NCAA Tournament record for most goals and points and sent NU to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time in nine seasons.

 

The Huskers’ season ended with a hard-fought 2-1 loss at Illinois. Nebraska rallied from a 1-0 deficit before a late penalty kick was converted in the 86th minute. The loss ended NU’s season at 14-9.

 

A More In-Depth Look at the Huskers’ 2004 Season

The Nebraska soccer team finished the regular season with a 12-7 overall record and a 6-4 mark in the Big 12 Conference and finished the season with a 14-9 overall record, going 0-1 in the Big 12 Tournament and 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

 

The Huskers opened the season against the defending national champion and preseason No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels on Aug. 27. In front of 3,620 fans, the third-largest crowd in school history, NU played the Tar Heels tough before a goal in the 81st minute lifted UNC to a 1-0 victory.

 

After playing North Carolina close, Nebraska started slow against in-state rival Creighton in its second game. The Bluejays jumped out to a 2-0 first half lead before NU got on the scoreboard. Junior Nikki Baker scored with 15:01 remaining in the first half to cut the Bluejays’ lead to one. Trailing 2-1 at half, the Nebraska offense exploded for three goals in the second half. Junior Katie Bunkers, sophomore Tanya Dennis and freshman Jetta Sadusky each recorded the first goal of their careers in the 4-2, come-from-behind victory.

 

The win ended Creighton’s 15-game winning streak when scoring two or more goals and dropped the Bluejays’ overall record to 66-2-2 all time when scoring two or more goals.

 

The following weekend, Nebraska posted back-to-back shutouts over two 2003 NCAA Tournament teams.

 

The Huskers used stellar performances from a trio of sophomores to shut out Eastern Illinois, 4-0, on Sept. 3. Tanya Dennis scored two goals for NU, while Brittany Timko added three assists, finishing just one assist shy of the Nebraska single-game record. In goal, Katie Wright posted her first shutout of the season, recording three saves.

 

Seniors Brooke Bredenberg and Lindsey Ingram each posted their first goals of the season in the win.

 

Against Purdue on Sept. 5, Nebraska played perhaps its best game of the season. Timko scored two goals on her 19th birthday and Baker added a third to give Nebraska a 3-0 win over the Boilermakers. Baker’s goal came just 53 seconds into the game, just 16 seconds off the school record for fastest goal, which is 37 seconds held by Baker.

 

For their efforts against Eastern Illinois and Purdue, Timko and Wright were named the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.

 

Riding a three-game winning streak, Nebraska faced an athletic Pacific team on Sept. 10. The Tigers used two Regina McGee breakaway goals to upset the Huskers, 2-1. McGee’s first goal came at 52:34 and ended Wright’s scoreless streak at 2:95:26. Timko scored the lone goal for NU and had a chance to tie the game with a penalty kick in the 77th minute, but her shot was saved by Pacific’s goalkeeper Jaime Souza.

 

The Huskers would have to try and rebound against Pac-10 power Stanford two days later. The Cardinal escaped Lincoln with a 1-0 victory. The Huskers outshot the Cardinal, 13-9, but Lizzy George scored the game’s only goal, as Nebraska dropped its second straight match.

 

Looking to avoid the first three-game losing streak in program history, Nebraska blasted Northern Colorado, 7-0, on Sept. 17. Timko was superb again, scoring three goals and adding three more assists. The Coquitlam, British Columbia, native finished with nine points in the match, tying the school single-game record. She also finished just one goal and one assist shy of tying the school record in each category.

 

Baker also had an outstanding day against the Bears, scoring two goals as Nebraska set season highs in goals, assists (four), shots (32) and shots on goal (13).

 

Bunkers added her second goal of the season and senior Brooke Bredenberg scored her first goal of the season in the win. In goal, Wright recorded one save while posting her third shutout of the season.

 

Nebraska’s next contest was against Montana on Sept. 19. The Huskers offense tied a season high with 32 shots and set a season high with 17 shots on goal, but NU was only able to score twice in a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Baker scored the Huskers’ first goal off an assist by Timko, who also scored the game-winning goal. Nebraska outshot Montana, 32-10, but was unable to muster any more offense against the Grizzlies in the final game of a season-opening eight-game homestand.

 

For her efforts against Northern Colorado and Montana, Timko was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in the 2004 season.

 

Playing in its first road game of the year, Nebraska started quickly against in-state rival Creighton on Sept. 21, with Ingram putting Nebraska on the board just 5:54 into the game. Creighton tied the game later in the first half on a goal by Kristine Willrett. The Bluejays then grabbed the lead with just over 23 minutes remaining on Willrett’s second goal of the game.

 

After erasing a 2-0 deficit in the first meeting, the Huskers knew what they needed to do for a victory. In a 2:20 span, goals by Timko and junior Sasha Andrews gave Nebraska a 3-2 lead, which would end up being the final score.

 

Timko scored less than a minute into the game in Nebraska’s next game, a 1-0 upset over ninth-ranked Kansas in Lawrence. Wright recorded her fourth shutout of the season as the Huskers won their conference opener.

 

Timko struck for three goals in less than 2:30 against Iowa State the following game, and Nebraska withstood a furious Cyclone rally to escape Ames with a 3-2 win. ISU scored two goals in the second half and had a game-tying penalty kick bound off the crossbar with under two minutes remaining. Timko produced all four Husker goals of the weekend and earned her third Big 12 Offensive-Player-of-the-Week, Soccer America Team-of-the-Week and Soccer Buzz Elite-Team-of-the-Week honors of  2004.

 

Nebraska extended its winning streak to six straight with a 2-1 overtime win over the Missouri Tigers. Baker scored both goals against MU, including the game winner in the second overtime off a corner kick by Timko and an assist by junior Sasha Andrews.

 

The following weekend, NU faced a difficult two-game stretch against Texas and Texas A&M. Against the Longhorns, Nebraska won a wild 4-3 game. Baker scored two goals for the second consecutive match and Nebraska scored three first-half goals to post the victory, despite allowing a team more than two goals for the first time in 2004.

 

The Huskers struck first against A&M on a goal by Andrews. The Aggies responded by controlling much of the action in the second half, scoring twice to hand Nebraska its first league loss.

 

Needing to sweep Texas Tech and Baylor to regain a share of first place in the Big 12, NU blanked the Red Raiders, 4-0, but fell to the Bears, 4-3. Sophomore Abby Penas scored the first goal of her career against TTU and Wright recorded her fifth shutout of the season.

 

Nebraska jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Baylor, but watched as the Bears scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead. Bredenberg broke BU’s momentum and tied the game, but Baylor scored its third goal of the second half to pull out the victory and drop the Huskers’ conference record to 5-2.

 

In the last road trip of the year Oct. 22-24, Nebraska again needed a sweep to put itself in position to claim a share of the Big 12 regular-season title. NU defeated Oklahoma State, 2-0, and was helped when Texas A&M and Kansas each lost. The Huskers were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, however, as they were upset by Oklahoma in their next game, 1-0. Freshman Sari Raber scored the first goal of her career against the Cowgirls, but no one was able to score against the Sooners, marking the Huskers’ first shutout since Sept. 12.

 

In the final match of the regular season, Nebraska fell to Colorado, 2-0. The loss was the Huskers' first by more than one goal and left NU entering the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 5 seed.

 

In what Coach John Walker called the team’s best effort of the season, a somewhat depleted Husker squad gave Texas everything it could handle in a hard-fought 2-0 loss. The loss left Nebraska awaiting word on where it was headed for the NCAA Tournament.

 

The Huskers were happy to hear they would stay close to home when the NCAA Selection Committee announced they would face Oral Roberts in Lawrence, Kan., in the first round of the tournament.

 

Against ORU, Baker recorded the first hat trick of her career and in the process tied the Nebraska single-game NCAA Tournament record for most goals and points in a game. Baker scored two brilliant first-half goals, before converting her first penalty kick attempt of the season for the game’s final goal. In the game, Bredenberg recorded an assist on Baker’s second goal. The assist gave Bredenberg 10 points for the season, marking the first time in the senior’s career that she reached the double-figure plateau for points.

 

Nebraska faced a difficult task in the second round. The Huskers, the only team to defeat Kansas at home in 2004, were attempting to beat a league foe for the second time in the same season. NU was also trying to knock out the No. 8 national seed and trying to do it with only 14 healthy players competing on just one day’s rest.

 

In the fashion that defined the season, the Huskers’ spirited play pushed them to an incredible 2-1 overtime victory over the Jayhawks. Bredenberg scored off a brilliant free kick in the first half and Nebraska used every ounce of energy it had to withhold a 17-shot barrage from KU in the final period to force overtime. In the overtime period, Penas sent a ball to Baker, who turned past two defenders and sent a shot into the top of the net for the game winner. The goal displayed uncanny accuracy and precision by Baker and had the Jayhawks and Coach Mark Francis in disbelief.

 

Advancing to the Sweet 16 for the eighth time in nine years, Nebraska headed to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini, who upset No. 9 national seed Texas A&M. Still without some of their top players, the Huskers fought back from a 1-0 deficit and tied the game near the end of the first half. Following an Illini foul, Wright sent a beautiful free kick more than 50 yards into the box where Bredenberg was able to beat the Illinois goalkeeper to the ball and head it into the back of the net.

 

In the second half, both teams had several good scoring opportunities, but neither could convert. The game appeared headed for overtime until Illinois was awarded a corner kick with less than five minutes in the game. Despite great read and reaction by Wright, the kick slipped inside the right post and lifted the Fighting Illini to a late 2-1 victory.

 

Despite some of the ups and downs of the season, Timko and Baker proved to be very consistent. Timko led the Big 12 in every offensive category, except for game-winning goals, where she ranked fifth and goals-per game where she was second. She was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week three times this season and was named to Soccer America's National Team of the Week and Soccer Buzz's Elite Team of the Week.

 

Baker earned Big 12 Offensive-Player-of-the-Week honors once in 2004, and set career highs in goals and points, while tying her career high for assists. The duo also became the first Huskers to each record 30 points in the same season since 2001.

 

The program also enjoyed saw its 100,000th fan pass through the gates in the season opener against North Carolina and saw the attendance mark surpass 10,000 for the seventh time in the 11-year history of the program when a crowd of 1,006 attended the home finale against Colorado Oct. 29.