March 1, 2007
Box Score
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Kristen Kjellman and Hannah Nielsen combined for 10 goals and sophomore Hilary Bowen added six points as the third-ranked Wildcats (2-1) handed No. 7 Notre Dame, a 2006 NCAA finalist, its first loss of the season with an 18-10 victory Thursday night in South Bend.
The Wildcats raced out to a 12-4 halftime lead and never looked back. Northwestern outshot Notre Dame 21-11 in the first half and 34-21 for the game. NU also came up with 12 of the 18 draw controls in the opening period.
NU took a 2-0 lead in the very first minute of the game as Aly Josephs and Katrina Dowd each scored 14 seconds apart. Two more goals from Nielsen and one from Meredith Frank made it 5-1 NU 8:06 into the game.
After Bowen extended NU's lead to 6-2, Notre Dame's Caitlin McKinney trimmed the lead back to three with 12 minutes remaining in the period. But Northwestern would end the half on a 6-1 run, with three goals coming off the stick of Kjellman for the 12-4 halftime lead.
In the second half, Northwestern extended its lead to nine points on three occasions, the first coming on an unassisted goal by Kjellman in which she caught her own rebound off a save and fired the ball right past Notre Dame keeper Erin Goodman. Notre Dame's Jillian Byers, who led the Irish with three goals, cut the lead back to eight points before Nielsen found Kjellman for her fifth goal of the game to make it 15-6 with 18 minutes left.
Notre Dame put together a small run and made things a little more interesting with three-straight goals by Byers, Kaki Orr and Gina Scioscia to make it 15-9 with 10 minutes left in the match.
Not to be outdone, the Wildcats ran off three consecutive goals of their own--one more from Kjellman on a free-position shot and two from Bowen in the final minutes to make it 18-9.
Kjellman finished with eight total points on six goals and two assists, Nielsen added three assists for seven points while Bowen had an even three goals and three assists. Freshman Katrina Dowd had four points (2g, 2a) while Frank finished with two (1g, 1a) and a team-high four draw controls. Josephs finished with two goals.
Northwestern faces No. 16 Penn next Friday in its home opener. Game time is 3 p.m. CT.
Notes: Northwestern has outscored its last two opponents 38-12--No. 19 Vanderbilt (20-2) and No. 7 Notre Dame (18-10) ... With eight points Thursday, Kjellman passed Lindsey Munday for second place on NU's all-time points list with 275 ... NU has now won 43 of its last 45 games and 57-of-61 overall.