March 25, 2007
BOSTON -- Sophomores Hilary Bowen and Hannah Nielsen combined for 11 goals and classmate Morgan Lathrop made 12 saves in goal as Northwestern (5-1) cruised past host Boston University 17-4 Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Field.
With the victory and the loss by No. 1 UNC on Saturday, Northwestern will be the odds-on favorite to reclaim the top spot in the national rankings, which come out early next week.
Sunday's victory also was the fifth-straight for the Wildcats who are averaging 17.2 goals and giving up just 4.8 over that stretch.
Nielsen also tallied four assists for nine points while Bowen also ended up with nine with three dishes. The Wildcats scored the first eight goals of the contest before BU (2-4) scored its first goal 5:26 into the second period.
Nielsen opened the scoring with the first goal less than two minutes into the contest before Kristen Kjellman made it 2-0 less than two minutes later. Bowen then blew the game open with three-straight goals to make it 5-0 as NU eventually took a 7-0 lead into halftime.
BU's offense finally came alive in the second half, scoring four goals on 14 shots. But they never threatened thanks to the outstanding play of Lathrop who improved her record to 5-1 on the season.
Boston natives Meredith Frank (2g) and Kjellman (2g, 2a) each scored twice for NU. Casey Donohoe and Aly Josephs both had one goal.
Boston's Traci Landy led the Terriers with three goals and took a game-high 10 shots. Jenna Golden took the loss in goal, recording nine saves as NU showered the BU defense with 31 shots.
The Wildcats open up a six-game homestand Friday, April 30 whey they host 10th-ranked Syracuse. Game time is 4 p.m. CT.