April 20, 2006
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April 21, 2006 - 3:30 p.m. CT
#2 Northwestern (11-1)
vs. #5 North Carolina (11-3)
Evanston, Ill. - Thomas Athletic Complex
April 23, 2006 - 1 p.m. CT
#2 Northwestern (11-1, 2-0)
vs. #8 Johns Hopkins (10-1, 3-0)
Evanston, Ill. - Thomas Athletic Complex
TV: CSTV (610 on DirecTV) & NUsports.com's All Access
Radio: WNUR (89.3 FM) WNUR.org
EVANSTON, Ill. - The good news is the Wildcats finally return home to Evanston this weekend after going 5-1 on a six-game, month-long and more than 10,000-mile road trip. The not-so-good news is the 'Cats must now gear up for two top 10 opponents in the span of three days when No. 2 Northwestern (11-1) hosts fifth-ranked North Carolina (11-3) at 3:30 p.m. Friday before turning around to host ALC rival and eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins (10-1, 3-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday in front of a nationally televised CSTV audience. The 'Cats shrugged off their loss to Duke two weeks ago by dominating No. 18 Penn State on Easter Sunday with a 19-9 victory.
'Cats Bounce Back
After waiting more than a week to play again after suffering their first loss in almost two years, the Wildcats showed the nation that the Duke loss is a distant memory by posting a convincing 19-9 win over No. 18 Penn State in Happy Valley last Sunday. Four different Wildcats recorded a hat-trick or better. Lindsey Munday stole the show for the Wildcats, leading the way with a season-high five goals and two assists. Kristen Kjellman added four goals and two dishes while freshman Hilary Bowen and Meredith Frank each recorded three goals. Sarah Albrecht finished with a game-high four assists. After trailing by as much as seven, Penn State cut Northwestern's lead to 13-9 with 12:14 left. But NU turned it up a notch offensively in the final 10 minutes to put the game away with six straight goals to close out the game. Freshman Morgan Lathrop improved her record to 10-1 in goal. She had eight saves on the day.
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.
Ring Ceremony
Following Sunday's game with Johns Hopkins, the Northwestern Athletics Department will honor head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, the coaching staff and members of last season's 2005 National Championship team with a ring ceremony at midfield.
Munday, Kjellman Named Finalists For Tewaaraton Trophy
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announced the women's collegiate nominees for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy. The list of women has been narrowed to 21 from which five athletes will be chosen as the 2006 Finalists for the Trophy presented on June 1st. Northwestern's Kristen Kjellman and Lindsey Munday are two of the 21 finalists.
Amonte Hiller Honored by NCAA
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was named to the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team April 13. The former University of Maryland standout led the Terrapins to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1995 and '96. The two-time IWLCA Player of the Year was a first-team all-America selection three times in 1994, '95 and '96 and a third-team selection in 1993. She also was named to the NCAA all-Tournament team three straight years from 1994-96. Amonte Hiller is in her fifth season as the head coach at Northwestern University. Last season she led the Wildcats to a perfect 21-0 record and the school's first NCAA team title since 1941, becoming the first team outside of the Eastern Time Zone to win an NCAA lacrosse title-male or female-at any level. She was later named the 2005 IWLCA Coach of the Year for her efforts.
Amonte Hiller's Maryland Accomplishments:
Offensive Explosion
The Wildcats have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 197-100, an average eight goals per game (16.4 to 8.3). Northwestern's largest win was a 19-3 drubbing 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 year and have scored 13 or more in all but one game. The Wildcats boast four players with 30 or more goals on the year, three of which are Tewaaraton Award finalists. Kristen Kjellman leads with 44 goals and Lindsey Munday is second with 32 goals and a team-best 30 assists. Aly Josephs is third on the team with 31 while Laura Glassanos rounds out the top scorers with 30 goals. Kjellman also has 18 assists and is tied with Munday with 62 total points.
'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 (16.42), draw controls (15.42), scoring margin (8.08) and 12th in goals allowed per game (8.33). They are 18th with 26.17 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) 5.17 Lindsey Munday - (6th) 5.17 Laura Glassanos - (36th) 3.75Goals Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (7th) 3.67 Lindsey Munday - (39th) 2.67
Assists Per Game Lindsey Munday - (5th) 2.5 Kristen Kjellman - (20th) 1.5 Laura Glassanos - (44th) 1.25
Goals-Against Average Morgan Lathrop - (16th) 8.72
Ground Balls Kristen Kjellman - (15th) 3.58 Sarah Albrecht - (39th) 3.0
Draw Controls Kristen Kjellman - (5th) 4.42 Sarah Albrecht - (19th) 2.83
Scouting UNC
Fifth-ranked North Carolina has won four straight and eight of their last nine-with its only loss coming in double overtime to No. 4 Georgetown back on March 31. They are 11-3 on the year and 4-1 in the ACC. Stephanie Scurachio leads the team in both goals (25) and assists (11) while Melissa McCarthy (21 goals) is second on the team in goals and shares the team lead with 11 assists. The Tar Heels feature a balanced attack with seven girls with 12 or more goals on the season-74 percent of UNC's offense. Kristen Hordy has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She is 10-3 on the season with 121 saves and leads the nation in save percentage (.565) and is third in goals-against-average (7.2). As a team the Tar Heels also rank third overall nationally in scoring defense (7.29). They are coached by Jenny Levy (130-59) who is in her 11th season in Chapel Hill. She has recorded over 100 wins, seven NCAA Tournament bids and three Final Four appearances.
Series History
Northwestern won the first-ever meeting with the Tar Heels last season, 6-5, in Chapel Hill.
Scouting Hopkins
The 18th-ranked Blue Jays (10-1, 3-0 ALC) are coming off a 17-6 win at Delaware Wednesday night. They own a half game lead on the Wildcats in the ALC Standings with the winner of Sunday's game moving into the driver's seat for the remainder of the season to clinch the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Mary Key is one of the top offensive threats in the game. She leads the nation in points per game (6.4), is fourth in assists (2.6) and fifth in goals scored per game (3.8). Like Northwestern and UNC, Hopkins also has one of the top defensive units in the country-they are ranked fifth scoring defense, giving up just 7.9 goals per game. Lauren Riddick is fourth in the country with a 7.39 goals-against average. The Jays are led by Janine Tucker-the all-time winningest coach at Hopkins-who is in her 13th season. She has guided her team to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons.
Series History
Both teams have won twice (2-2) in the all-time series with the Wildcats coming out on top in the previous two meetings.
March 26, 2002 at Hopkins L, 7-11 March 28, 2003 vs. Hopkins* L, 7-14 April 25, 2004 vs. Hopkins W, 15-8 April 22, 2005 at Hopkins W, 12-3 *Nashville, Tenn.
Road Warriors
Eleven of Northwestern's 17 regular-season games this year are away from Evanston, which included a six-game road trip spanning from March 23 to Friday's home game on April 21. Over that six-game road swing, the Wildcats traveled 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 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 eight times this season, including five in the win over then-No. 13 Notre Dame March 19.
More Impressive Numbers
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 156 goals, third with 67 assists and fourth with 229 total points. She leads the Wildcats this season with 44 goals to compliment 18 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.
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, No. 4 Duke and No. 18 Penn State in addition to No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 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.
Next Up
The Wildcats travel to the Buckeye state for another ALC showdown with Ohio State at 6 p.m. CT Friday, April 28 in Columbus, Ohio. They then return home that Sunday (April 30) for a nonconference game with Denver at 2 p.m.