June 22, 2009
2009 Northwestern Lacrosse Final Release
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Heading into the 2009 season, the 10 seniors on the Wildcat roster had pretty much done it all. They had won both the American Lacrosse Conference and the NCAA national championships in each of their first three seasons, losing only three games in the process. But there was still one thing these seniors hadn't accomplished, something they were all too aware of.
"Before the season we were joking that the only thing we had not done was go undefeated," said senior attacker Hannah Nielsen. "We had seen the 2005 class do it, but we hadn't been able to. I am so proud of my teammates for doing this. I can't think of a better way to go out."
The 2009 Wildcats became just the second team in program history to go through an entire season unscathed, capping the year by routing third-ranked North Carolina 21-7 in the NCAA title game to finish a perfect 23-0. It marked the fourth national championship for the class of 2009, and fifth-straight overall for Northwestern, as the seniors end their careers with an overall record of 85-3.
Though each of the past five championship seasons have been special for head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, this one may have been the most impressive. The 23 games played by the Wildcats were the most in program history, and from the season-opener against Denver on Jan. 23 to the title game in Towson on May 24, the four-month journey marks the longest season in NU history. Throw 16 games against top-20 teams, including 10 against those in the top-10, into the mix and you have arguably the most challenging gauntlet the Wildcats had faced.
But the challenges were not limited to solely the lacrosse field. On Feb. 17, hours after the Wildcats' 20-6 victory at Duquesne, Amonte Hiller lost her father Lewis, a staunch supporter of his daughter and her program. Then on April 4, just over two minutes into the game with California at Lakeside Field, senior attacker Hilary Bowen, the Wildcats' leading goal scorer, tore her ACL while trying to cut to the goal.
"This season and this championship definitely was special for me," Amonte Hiller said. "To see the girls rally around the adversity we had and come together and play for each other was really special. I'm extremely proud of this team and the way they responded."
In the face of this adversity is where Northwestern showed what true champions are made of. For the remainder of the season, the team sported white wristbands with the initials "L.A." written on them, and proceeded to put together the most explosive offensive season in NCAA history. The Wildcats tallied 570 points on 407 goals (both of which are new Division I single-season records) and added 163 assists. The team averaged 17.6 goals per game and had a scoring margin of 10.77 - both of which were tops in the nation.
With Bowen cheering on her teammates from the bench, a handful of Wildcats stepped up, including junior Katrina Dowd. In the 12 games leading up to Bowen's injury, Dowd had tallied 22 goals. After the team captain went down, Dowd responded with 53 over the final 11 contests to finish with 75 on the year, the third highest single-season total in program history. But it was in the NCAA Championship where she really began to shine, scoring a tournament-record 22 goals en route to being named the Championship's Most Valuable Player.
But none of Dowd's goals were more crucial than the one with 0.2 seconds remaining in the first three-minute overtime period in the NCAA semifinals against Penn. Trailing 12-11 with time running out, Dowd fired a shot which deflected off Quaker goalkeeper Emily Szelest's stick. With the ball loose on the ground, Dowd dove to her left, and while on her knees flipped the ball over her shoulder. The shot made it past Szelest and caught the far netting just inside the post, tying the game at 12.
"I couldn't see the cage," Dowd said of her game-tying goal. "I was on my knees and the ball was on the ground. I knew there wasn't much time left so I just swung at it and tapped it. Honestly, I had no idea where the ball was going when I shot it. I'm just happy it went into the cage."
The goal forced a sudden-death second overtime, which promptly ended with 1:31 remaining on the clock when senior Meredith Frank fired a shot into the top of the net to seal Northwestern's 13-12 victory and propel the `Cats into another championship game. It was a fitting moment for Frank, who ends her NU career eighth all-time on the Wildcats' all-time point list (210), while ranking seventh in goals (152) and ninth in assists (58). A three-time All-American, Frank was perhaps the top all-around player on the Northwestern roster, as she also concludes her career fourth in both draw controls (183) and caused turnovers (76) and seventh in ground balls (130).
Bowen, however, wanted to end her career on her own terms. Just six weeks after what is normally a season-ending injury, she returned to not only start the championship game against the Tar Heels, but scored a game-high five goals and was named to the NCAA all-tournament team. She finishes her time in Evanston third all-time in program history in both points (299) and goals (219) and fifth in assists (80). Bowen, the ESPN the Magazine Women's At-Large Academic All-American of the Year, scored at least one goal in 51 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history.
But it was Nielsen who continued to show why she is among the top players in the sport's history. Northwestern's all-time point (398) and assist leader (224), she captured both the Tewaaraton Trophy and Lacrosse Honda Sports Award for the second-straight year after becoming the Division I all-time assist leader. Nielsen finished her senior campaign with 59 goals and 83 assists, shattering her previous single-season assist record of 69 in 2007, and her 142 career points is the second-highest total all-time. She recorded 10 assists in the victory over Duquesne on Feb. 17, becoming the first player in NCAA history to record double-digits in a single game. She earned first-team All-American honors for the third-straight year while being named the ALC Player of the Year for the second time.
Defensively, senior goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop cemented her legacy as one of the nation's top netminders. Lathrop recorded 131 saves on the year to end her career with 553 - tops all-time in Northwestern history while recording at least 100 saves in each of her four seasons in Evanston. She ranked second nationally in goals against average (6.52), en route to being named a third-team All-American. Lathrop ends her career with a .506 save percentage and a 6.79 goals against average while boasting a career record of 83-3 between the pipes for the `Cats.
While Northwestern loses a major portion of its roster to graduation, don't think the Wildcats will fall from the top of the rankings any time soon. Along with Dowd returns junior attacker Danielle Spencer, as the duo both joined the Wildcat 100-goal club this season. Spencer tallied a career-best 64 goals in 2009 - the seventh-highest single-season total in program history - while also winning 51 draws on the year. Combine the offensive totals of the junior duo and you have a combined 318 points (266G, 52A), making them one of the top scoring tandems in the country.
The Wildcat sophomores responded when needed as well, led by a career-best 23 goals and six assists from Brooke Matthews, three of which came in the national championship victory over North Carolina in her Maryland homecoming. Another key contribution came from the Santulli twins, as both Kendall and Samantha netted a career-high seven goals each.
Amonte Hiller's highly touted freshman class also lived up to the hype in its first year in Evanston. Shannon Smith and Lacey Vigmostad both started every game for the Wildcats, with Smith recording 33 goals, 27 draws and 12 caused turnovers, and Vigmostad registering 30 ground balls, 19 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers while adding a pair of goals of her own. Alexandra Frank emerged as one of the top draw control threats for Northwestern, tallying 63 on the year in addition to causing a team-high 29 turnovers and adding 10 goals and four assists. All three were named to the Womenslacrosse.com All-Rookie Team, with Smith and Frank both being named to the ALC Championship all-tournament team.
After a perfect season, which saw Northwestern set a number of NCAA scoring records and capture it's fifth-straight title, it would be difficult to imagine the Wildcats topping this season's accomplishments. It's probably safe to say that a lot of teams around the country are already looking forward to next year, anticipating 2010 as the year in which they can finally get a little bit of payback against the team that has dominated the sport for the last five years. But Spencer and the rest of the returning Wildcats might have something to say about that.
"We lose a lot next year, but we also have a great deal of talent and experience coming back," Spencer said. "Next year's team will be just as strong."