April 7, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - In a highly unusual regular-season coincidence, the college lacrosse world shines two spotlights this weekend as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams meet at the NCAA Division I level in both men's and women's lacrosse.
Friday night, all eyes will be on Baltimore -- the traditional home and hotbed of lacrosse in America -- when the Johns Hopkins men host Duke.
Sunday afternoon, that gaze will move out of Baltimore, and every other traditional Eastern hotspot, and instead descend upon the newest focal point in the college lacrosse world -- try Evanston, Illinois, where the No. 1-ranked Northwestern women's lacrosse team (10-0) entertains the second-ranked Duke women (9-2) at 1 p.m.
"Obviously, Sunday's game has a lot of excitement and buildup around it because it is No. 1 vs. No. 2," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "However, we are approaching this weekend with excitement because we have two more home games, and it is always fun to play in front of our fans. It should be a great weekend for our program."
Of course, before Sunday's game arrives the Wildcats have another team to worry about, as Stanford (6-4) comes calling at the Thomas Athletic Complex Friday at 4 p.m.
"I am not concerned about our players looking past Stanford, but we have addressed it with them," said Amonte Hiller. "Our approach is that you cannot get to Sunday without Friday, so we are focused on Friday's game, and when that one is over we will start thinking about Sunday.
"We had a good game with Stanford last year, and I expect them to come out hard against us," she continued. "Michelle Uhlfelder is a good coach, and they have talented, athletic players. This is a big weekend for them, so I expect them to be up for Friday's game."
Sunday's game is the marquee matchup, however, and the atmosphere surrounding the game could have the feel of May (and the NCAA Tournament) instead of April. The Warrior Lacrosse Equipment Touring Truck will be on display for fans of all ages, and a number of women's lacrosse fans from the Chicagoland area are expected to take in this highly anticipated matchup under sunny skies.
"I think the competition on the field will have the feel of an NCAA Tournament game, and the hope is that the atmosphere in the stands and in the parking lot is the same," said Amonte Hiller. "We are excited for Sunday, it is a great opportunity for our team on a big stage."
Sunday's contest, not surprisingly, will feature several of the top college players in the country. For Northwestern, Kristen Kjellman and Courtney Koester are preseason members of the Watch List for the Tewaaraton Trophy, given to the nation's outstanding player (essentially, lacrosse's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy). They have likely been joined on that list by junior Lindsey Munday, who leads the `Cats in scoring with 48 points and has been a consistent scorer all season.
For Duke, Katie Chrest was highlighted as being on an extremely short list for the Tewaaraton this week on the Inside Lacrosse website; the junior has 51 points in 11 games this season, including 40 goals. However, she is getting plenty of help -- six teammates have scored at least 10 goals this season. The Blue Devils enter a Friday game at Notre Dame having won four in a row, the most recent being a 16-12 decision on the road over defending champion (and this year's preseason No. 1) Virginia.
The defenses will be key to Sunday's game, and both teams feel comfortable with their players on the back line. Northwestern is second in the nation in goals-against average, while Duke has allowed just two teams to reach double figures this season (Virginia, North Carolina). In goal, NU will look to its four-year starter Ashley Gersuk, an All-ALC pick from a year ago; at the other end, Duke keeper Megan Huether is on the Tewaaraton Watch List.
Amonte Hiller thinks playing Stanford Friday may actually prove beneficial for the Wildcats.
"Stanford and Duke have different personnel, but they have some similar concepts," she said, noting Cardinal mentor Uhlfelder was a long-time assistant to Duke coach Kerstin Kimel.
Some notes as the Wildcats host Stanford and Duke this weekend...
* NU and Stanford are meeting for the third time, and the third consecutive year. Last season the Wildcats earned an 11-5 win in Palo Alto, avenging a 9-5 loss to the Cardinal in 2003.
* NU and Duke are meeting for the second time, and the second year in a row. Last season, the Blue Devils won a 15-9 decision over the Wildcats in Durham, N.C., in an early-season meeting (Feb. 22).
* NU entered the week again ranked No. 1 in the IWLCA national poll; the Wildcats are the first team outside of the Eastern Time Zone to earn the top spot, and they are the first American Lacrosse Conference team to hold the No. 1 ranking.
* NU leads the nation in scoring offense (15.80 gpg) and is second in scoring defense (6.20 gpg allowed), and leads the nation in scoring margin (+9.6).
* NU is averaging 17.1 goals per game since the season opener, hitting double figures in each contest.
* NU also leads the nation in draw controls per game (16.20) and is fifth in caused turnovers per game (13.10).
* NU's 10-0 start matches the 1983 team (from the previous era of lacrosse, 1982-92) for the best start in program history.
* NU is 23-1 in its last 24 regular-season games, with the lone loss coming in overtime (last year vs. Vanderbilt).
* NU entered the week tied with No. 10 Hofstra for the most wins in Division I this season (10) and was one of just two undefeated teams left (along with No. 6 Dartmouth).
* NU has trailed a total of just eight minutes and 15 seconds in the last nine games (a total of 540 minutes).
* NU has six players with 10 or more goals this season -- senior Sarah Albrecht (11) and Courtney Flynn (10), juniors Lindsey Munday (24) and Laura Glassanos (24), and sophomores Kristen Kjellman (29) and Aly Josephs (21).
* Munday also has 24 assists, which places her fourth on NU's single-season list (including the previous era of lacrosse); the first three totals on the list came during the first era of lacrosse at NU, including the school record of 32 set in 1988 by Maureen Mullen.
* Munday is currently third on NU's all-time assist list with 48, while Albrecht is fourth with 47 and Glassanos is fifth with 40.
* Kjellman set modern-era records last Sunday with six assists and 12 points vs. Connecticut; she is averaging 3.9 goals and 5.9 points per game in NU's last seven games, since she returned to the lineup from illness.
* Kjellman was named to the womenslacrosse.com National Honor Roll this week for her play vs. Rutgers and UConn; she had a combined 18 points in the wins.
* Munday has recorded at least four points in all but one game this season.
* Kristen Boege and Annie Elliott have each scored seven goals on seven shots this season.
NU individuals in the national stats:
Goals per game: Kristen Kjellman, 12th (3.22)
Assists per game: Lindsey Munday, 3rd (2.40); Laura Glassanos, 16th (1.60); Kristen Kjellman, 18th (1.56)
Points per game: Lindsey Munday, 6th (4.80); Kristen Kjellman, 7th (4.78); Laura Glassanos, 15th (4.00)
Draw Controls per game: Courtney Koester, 4th (4.40)
Goals Against Average: Ashley Gersuk, 2nd (6.24)