Feb. 13, 2006
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill.-- No.1 Northwestern fought back from an early 4-0 deficit in the first period to claim a 13-8 win today at No. 9 Maryland in College Park, Md. Kristen Kjellman led the Wildcats with three goals and three assists and Laura Glassanos chipped in with three goals of her own as the defending national champion Wildcats extended their winning streak to 22 games.
"Maryland came out tough at the start and got up on us 4-0," said head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, who was facing her alma mater for the first time. "I was very proud of the way we responded. We answered with seven straight goals and really put the pressure back on them. We had the momentum going into the second half. But after they made it 7-6, we really dug down and took control after that.
"This is an awesome win for our program on the road against a great opponent in Maryland."
The Terrapins were the aggressor at the start as Delia Cox scored the third and fourth goals of the game to give Maryland a 4-0 advantage just about midway through the period.
But Northwestern never hit the panic button.
Instead, the 'Cats regrouped and went on an offensive tear over the final 16 minutes of the half, scoring seven unanswered goals to take a 7-4 lead at halftime. Aly Josephs sparked the run with an unassisted tally with 15:49 left. She had two during the 7-0 run as did Kristen Kjellman. Kjellman capped off the scoring binge when she assisted on a Meredith Frank goal with 18 seconds left.
Maryland fought back at the start of the second half as Cox scored one minute in and then assisted Kelly Kasper a few minutes later to make it 7-6. Maryland won the ensuing draw control, but was unable to capitalize.
NU then seized control of the game when Glassanos scored two goals in a span of 27 seconds with the first assisted by freshman Hannah Nielsen.
After the Terps made it 9-7 on a Krista Pellizzi goal, NU's defense forced a turnover and Lindsey Munday scored a free-position goal at 17:42 to give NU a 10-7 lead.
The Wildcats won the next draw and Nielson scored on an assist from Kjellman. Kjellman won the next draw, but the two teams exchanged chances before Pellizzi scored her second goal of the day to pull the Terps to 11-8 with over 13 minutes left.
But Northwestern controlled possession the rest of the way and added scores from Frank and Kjellman to end the game.
Abby Bangser got her first career start in goal for the Wildcats, recording two saves as she picked up her first career victory.
Kjellman finished with a team-high six points while Glassanos, Munday and Nielsen finished with three. Sarah Albrecht, Josephs and Frank all finished with two points each.
Northwestern has a couple weeks off to rest from a longer than expected trip and return to action Feb. 24 at Hofstra.
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