Huskers Host Final Home Games of 2011

Lincoln - The Nebraska soccer team (6-8-1, 3-5-0 Big Ten) will host its final two home games of the 2011 season this week when Iowa and No. 25 Illinois visit the Nebraska Soccer Field. The Hawkeyes will make the trip to Lincoln on Thursday, Oct. 20, for a 4 p.m. kickoff, while the Fighting Illini and Huskers will square off on Sunday, Oct. 23, for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on BTN.com (premium account needed) and live stats will be available on Huskers.com.

The Huskers are coming off a weekend road split at Penn State and Ohio State. NU dropped a tough 5-4 decision to the No. 15 Nittany Lions, on Friday, but then bounced back with a 3-2 win over the Buckeyes on Sunday. With three games left on the regular-season schedule, the Huskers still have a shot at making the Big Ten Tournament.

Iowa, who is receiving votes in the latest NSCAA poll, enters Thursday's game with an 11-3-2 overall record, but is just 3-3-2 in conference games. The Hawkeyes haven't won or lost consecutive games during Big Ten play and are coming off a 4-0 loss at Penn State. On the road during conference play Iowa is 2-1-1, with wins over Indiana (1-0) and Ohio State (1-0), while they tied Purdue (1-1) and lost to Penn State (4-0).

The No. 25 Fighting Illini enter the week as one of the hottest teams in the conference. After starting Big Ten play with a 2-2 tie to Iowa and then consecutive losses to Ohio State and Penn State, Illinois as reeled off five consecutive wins to hold the No. 2 spot in the conference standings behind Penn State. The Fighting Illini will be looking for their sixth straight win on Thursday when they travel to Northwestern, before making the their trip to Lincoln.

Scouting Illinois
- Ohio State holds a 78-78-13 all-time record in Big Ten competition.

- The Buckeyes are 87-63-6 all-time in matches played in October; under Lori Walker, they are 70-46-6 in October.

- OSU has lost two of its last three games entering the weekend, but has not lost at home since Sept. 14.

- Tiffany Cameron leads the team in goals with five. Six other players have scored two goals each.

- The Buckeyes are 7-1-0 this season when they take more corner kicks then their opposition.

Scouting Iowa
- The Hawkeyes enter Thursday's game with a 3-3-2 Big Ten record and are tied for No. 6 spot in the conference standings.

- Iowa has not lost or won consecutive games during Big Ten play and are coming off a loss to Penn State. In its three losses, Iowa has been outscored 7-1.

- Cloe Lacasse leads the team with 10 goals. She is the only Hawkeye with more than five goals.

- Goalie Emily Moran is allowing less than one goal per game at 0.74 and have four shutouts on the season.

Streaks on the Line
Nebraska has never lost to Iowa and will look to improve its all-time record to 4-0-0 on Thursday with a win over the Hawkeyes.

Not only will the Hawkeyes be looking for their first win ever over the Huskers, but they will also be trying to not lose two straight games for the first time in 2011 after falling 4-0 to Penn State last Sunday.

Within Reach
The Nebraska soccer team enters the week ranked 10th in the Big Ten Conference and has three games left to get to seventh place by the end of the season to guarantee a bid to the conference tournament. Only eight teams are invited to the tournament and the host school, Northwestern, receives an automatic bid. The Wildcats currently sit 12th in the standings with a 1-6-1 record, which means the Huskers need to climb into one of the top-seven spots to secure a bid to the postseason.

The Huskers are just two points behind both Minnesota and Iowa, who share the No. 6 spot. NU's final three games are all against teams who are ranked ahead of them in the conference standings.

Movin' On Up
Morgan Marlborough continues to climb up the Nebraska career goals chart and is now sits second with 57 career goals. The junior started the season in seventh place and has passed two-time All-American Brittany Timko (41), 1996 All-American Kari Uppinghouse (42), 2000 All-American Meghan Anderson (48), 1996 All-American Lindsay Eddleman (50) and 1998 All-Americans Kim Engesser (53).

Christine Latham (1999-2002) holds the school record with 69 career goals. 

NU vs. B1G
Historically, the Huskers hold a 19-10-2 record against teams from the Big Ten Conference. NU has played at least one game against every team in the conference.

Nebraska is undefeated against Minnesota (5-0-0), Iowa (3-0-0).

Doing Her Part
Since Big Ten play started, Morgan Marlborough ranks first in goals (1.12) and second in points (2.50) per game. Marlborough is one of three players to average at least one goal per games, as Penn State's Maya Hayes and Michigan's Nkem Ezurike each average 1.00 goals per game.

One More to Go
With one more hat trick this season, Morgan Marlborough will break a pair of school records that are held by Kim Engesser. Marlborough is currently tied with Engesser for both hat tricks in a season (3) and career hat tricks (5).

Keeping the Lead
The Huskers are a perfect 4-0 this season when going into halftime with the lead. Nebraska has two wins this year when they are tied (2-4-0) and no wins when trailing (0-4-1) into halftime.

POW
Morgan Marlborough has earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week twice this season. Both honors have come after she posted a hat trick and in the month of September.

Putting up Points
The Nebraska offense ranks second in the conference in shots (16.75), points (5.75), goals (1.88) and assists (2.00) during Big Ten play. Penn State leads every category, except for shots, where Illinois holds the lead with 17.25 per game.