Northwestern's hard-luck senior, Will Nicholas, was lost for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee in the Wildcats' win over Loyola (Ill.) last week.
It was the third ACL tear Nicholas has suffered in an addition to a broken leg that cut short his sophomore season in 2004. The former FC Delco star suffered a torn ACL in his left knee as a high school senior and tore his ACL in his right knee in 2005.
Nicholas had started 10 games in 2006 for the Wildcats, who improved to 9-3-0 with a 4-2 win over Valparaiso on Wednesday.
''Will was blessed with an unbelievable heart,'' said Northwestern coach Tim Lenahan, ''but he wasn't as fortunate with the rest of his body.''