April 13, 2006
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#2 Northwestern (10-1, 1-0)
at #18 Penn State (5-7, 1-0)
State College, Pa.
Jeffrey Field (3,500)
TV: CSTV (Channel 610 on DirecTV)
Also available on NUsports.com's All Access
Please check your local listings for the channel in your area
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 2 Northwestern (10-1, 1-0) seeks to rebound from its first loss in two years when it travels to State College, Pa. for an ALC showdown with 18th-ranked Penn State (5-7, 1-0) at 11 a.m. CT this Sunday. The game is the first of two Wildcat regular-season games to be aired on CSTV. Next Sunday's home game against No. 7 Johns Hopkins also will be televised nationally on CSTV. The Nittany Lions own a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series, though NU has come out on top in the previous two meetings in '04 and '05.
NU spouts five players with at least 17 goals this season in Kristen Kjellman (40 goals), Aly Jospehs (30), Laura Glassanos (29), Lindsey Munday (27) and Sarah Albrecht (17)-all of whom have accounted for 80 percent of NU's scoring this season. Freshman Morgan Lathrop has anchored a defense that has allowed just 8.2 goals per game this season. She is 9-1 on the year with 60 saves. Abby Bangser may also see time in goal. She is 1-0 in six games with 13 saves.
UNC Game Time Change
The Friday, April 21 home game with North Carolina, which was originally scheduled for 4 p.m., has been changed to a 3:30 start. That game, along with the four remaining home games, will be played at the Lakeside Field at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.
Streak Snapped at 31 Games
The 'Cats had their 31-game win streak snapped April 7 at No. 4 Duke with a 16-10 loss in Durham, N.C. Duke sprinted to an 11-4 halftime lead and the Wildcats never recovered despite a team-high five goals from All-American Kristen Kjellman. The 31-game winning streak dated to May of 2004 when the Wildcats lost to Virginia in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship. Lack of success early on the draw control (10-6 in the first half) was the big reason NU fell into an early hole. Both teams traded goals in the first four minutes as two goals by Kjellman tied the game at 2-2. The next 18 minutes would prove costly, however, as Duke ran off six-straight goals to take an 8-2 lead with 8:29 left in the half. Back-to-back goals by Lindsey Munday and Kjellman cut the lead to 12-6 in the second half, giving NU new life until Duke halted the momentum with three-straight goals to push the lead to nine. Kjellman and the Wildcats would make one last charge, scoring three-consecutive goals to make it 15-10 with 6:54 left. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.
'Cats Leading The Nation
Northwestern leads the nation in three major statistical categories and rank in the top 20 in five. The 'Cats are first in goals per game (16.18), draw controls (15.45), scoring margin (8.0) and 10th in goals allowed per game (8.27). They are 20th with 26.09 ground balls per outing. Individually, Kristen Kjellman, Lindsey Munday, Laura Glassanos, Aly Josephs, Morgan Lathrop and Sarah Albrecht are among the national leaders in several categories. Below is a breakdown of where the Wildcats rank nationally:
Points Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (6th) 5.09 Lindsey Munday - (7th) 5.0 Laura Glassanos - (24th) 4.0Goals Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (7th) 3.64 Aly Josephs - (36th) 2.73 Laura Glassanos - (43rd) 2.64
Assists Per Game Lindsey Munday - (4th) 2.55 Kristen Kjellman - (27th) 1.45 Laura Glassanos - (31st) 1.36
Goals-Against Average Morgan Lathrop - (15th) 8.57
Ground Balls Kristen Kjellman - (13th) 3.64 Sarah Albrecht - (39th) 3.09
Draw Controls Kristen Kjellman - (6th) 4.09 Sarah Albrecht - (14th) 3.0
Road Warriors
Eleven of Northwestern's 17 regular-season games this year are away from Evanston, which includes a six-game road trip spanning from March 23 to its next home game on April 21. Over that six-game road swing, the Wildcats will travel over an estimated 10,000 miles. To put it in perspective, that is roughly equivalent to driving from New York City to Los Angeles and back-twice! At seasons end, the Wildcats will have traveled over an estimated 17,500 miles, which is more than THREE round trips from the Big Apple to California.
Munday Breaks Assists Record
With her four assists on March 23 against California, senior Lindsey Munday broke NU's all-time record for assists. She passed Maureen Mullen (94; 1986-89) who held the record for more than 16 years. Munday also had another four-assist effort in the win over No. 18 Stanford two days later, giving her 100 for her career. Munday is the 26th person in Division I history to record 100 career assists. She has recorded multiple assist games seven times this season, including five in the win over then-No. 13 Notre Dame March 19.
More Impressive Numbers
Despite its loss at Duke April 7, NU still owns another streak-winning 14 straight home games dating to the end of the 2004 season. The record is held by Maryland who won 22 home matches in a row during their record 50-game win streak (1993-96).
Northwestern is now 44-2 in its last 46 regular-season games, with its only losses coming in overtime in 2004 to Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale and April 7 at Duke.
Kjellman Moves Up the Charts In only her junior season, Kristen Kjellman ranks in the top 4 in goals, assists and points on NU's all-time lists. She is in sole possession of third place with 152 goals, third with 65 assists and fourth with 223 total points. She leads the Wildcats this season with 40 goals to compliment 16 assists, including a six-goal, one-assist performance in the win at Penn March 7 and a five-goal performance at Duke April 7. Kjellman was second on the team last season with 59 goals and had 53 as a freshman in 2004.
Offensive Explosion
The Wildcats have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 178-91, an average eight goals per game (16.2 to 8.2). Northwestern's largest win was a 19-3 waxing of Ohio University in Evanston March 4. They have allowed 10 or more goals just three times this year. NU has scored in double digits each game this season and have scored 13 or more in all but one game. The Wildcats boast four players with 27 or more goals on the year, three of which are Tewaaraton Award finalists. Kristen Kjellman leads with 40 goals, Aly Josephs is second with 30 while Laura Glassanos and Lindsey Munday have 29 and 27, respectively. Munday also leads the team with 28 assists.
Scouting Penn State
The 18th-ranked Lions are 5-7 on the year and are coming off a last second defeat at the hands of Delaware 14-15 on Wednesday night. But don't let the record fool you. Penn State has suffered some narrow defeats to ranked opponents this season, which have included Virginia, William and Mary, Princeton, Maryland, North Carolina and Penn, all teams ranked in the latest IWLCA Top 20 poll.
The Lions are averaging 11.67 goals per game while giving up 10.83. They feature a trio of scoring threats who all have 26 or more goals on the season, including Shari Maslin's 29 goals and eight assists, both tops on the team. Jessi Lieb and Lori Havrilla each have 26 goals on the season while Lieb ranks 17th in the nation with 2.91 draw controls per game (as of April 11). Goalkeeper Cammie Jurkowsky is third in the ALC in goals-against average with 10.39 per game.
Suzanne Isidor is in her sixth season at the helm of the Penn State women's lacrosse team after leading her squad to a 12-5 record last year. Isidor has compiled a 48-50 record in her four seasons as the head coach of the Nittany Lion program. Isidor, in her 10th year overall as a head coach, led Penn State to a 5-1 record and a second-place finish in the American Lacrosse Conference last season.
Wildcats Face Six NCAA Qualifiers, 12 Ranked Teams
The road to defending its 2005 national title won't be an easy one as Northwestern is set to face six teams that qualified for last year's 16-team NCAA Lacrosse Championship. NU has already faced No. 7 Maryland, No. 13 Syracuse and then-No. 4 Duke and will face No. 13 Penn State, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 7 Johns Hopkins. In addition, NU has or will face a total of 12 teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the latest IWLCA and Insidelacrosse.com Top 20 polls.
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