Jan. 12, 2009
Northwestern begins its quest for a fifth-straight national championship in less than two weeks, facing 18th-ranked Denver in San Diego, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 23, as part of WomensLax.com's "Surfside Lacrosse Cup." NUsports.com recently sat down with Wildcat head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller to get her thoughts on the upcoming 2009 season.
On the Wildcats' focus after winning four-straight national championships...
"The way we look at it is that those championships are in the past. I know this team is very excited about this season, and I think it will bring a lot of different challenges than any other season we've had. In the offseason the focus is to see how the team matures, getting people up to speed and challenging them to see how they respond, and it's been exciting to see different people step up. But we know we have a lot of challenges ahead of us, so we've been focused on working extremely hard now so that hopefully we can have success."
On the different feel of this year's team...
"Coming into the season last year, not only were we young, but we lost one of our best players (Meredith Frank) to an injury early in fall ball, and there were a lot of questions in the air. This year, we do have a senior-laden team, and I think one of the good things about having a bunch of veterans is they understand how hard they need to work, and I think this group has also worked hard to inspire the younger players. Each year is different. I don't necessarily think one is better than the other, it's just different challenges that are unique to every team."
On the impact of this year's senior class...
"Obviously they mean a lot to the program, but more than anything this senior class is always looking to raise the bar higher than what they've accomplished in the past. They know that their challenge this year is to take this team and lead them not just to success on the field, but to teach them to enjoy the experience and be successful. It sounds like such an easy thing, but it really is difficult, and during the fall this class really identified what they wanted to accomplish both on and off the field with this team. This is a very deep senior class, and each one of them has really stepped up to take ownership of this team and this program."
On who she feels will step up...
"It really is up in the air right now. Obviously last year players like Danielle Spencer, Casey Donohoe and Katrina Dowd played a huge role for us, and I expect them to continue to do so. But top to bottom, we have a lot of depth, and I think our freshman class is very strong as well. That's the exciting part is we're still figuring out what roles people will take on, and during the fall we feel like a lot of players really stepped up. I'm excited as we head towards the season to see where people mesh in and how it all plays out."
On the incoming freshman class...
"This freshman class was really the first time we had been able to get kids that were very high profile. In the past we've gone after the kids that either came to light later in their careers or knew before, but this class we have known for a long time. They have come to camps and have followed the program for the last few years and we're really excited to see what they can bring to the program. I think it's been an adjustment for them in terms of the pace of play. Having such a senior-laden team, we had a very competitive fall and I think the girls realized that they need to pick it up that much more at this level, which will only help this team down the road."
On the challenging 2009 schedule...
"I think this is probably the toughest schedule we've ever had. I'm excited about it and I think our girls are excited about it as well. Playing a good team like Denver very early in the year to test ourselves will be big for us, and also adding a team like Virginia, but also keeping the rest of the opponents from last year, the girls couldn't be more thrilled. It will definitely pose a major challenge, considering we're playing a lot of the top competition from across the country. Hopefully that will set us up to be very experienced at the end of the season."
On if there is pressure to keep up the Wildcat tradition...
"I don't think the girls feel any pressure on them to keep up what teams in the past have accomplished because we never mention it. What has been accomplished is in the past, and we're focused on today, on what they can achieve this season. If you get caught up in the past, you lose focus on what you can achieve today. We will face some major challenges this year, so we need our focus to be on the moment, and the more focused we are, the better we are going to be."
On what makes her smile about this team...
"The different personalities on this team. We have some amazing girls and watching them learn from their mistakes, get better, and really put their mind to improving shows what strong people they are, both on and off the field."