Aug. 22, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For three seasons, former Northwestern teammates Christy Finch and Caitlin Jackson helped anchor the Wildcat defense. Now the two will be Big East Conference rivals beginning in 2010 as Finch recently was hired as an assistant coach at Cincinnati while Jackson was named to the same position at Connecticut.
Finch, a 2008 NU graduate, was a two-time IWLCA Defender of the Year (2007 and '08) and was one of five Tewaaraton Trophy finalists as a senior. She finished as the Wildcats' all-time leader in caused turnovers with 183, which ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history. The Hudson, Ohio, native started all 86 games of her Northwestern career, finishing with an overall record of 83-3 and four national championships.
Jackson graduated from Northwestern this past June after helping lead the Wildcats to a 23-0 record and a fifth-straight national championship in 2009. She posted career highs in ground balls (20), draw controls (14) and caused turnovers (4) during her senior season and was a member of the Northwestern class of 2009 which finished their careers with an 85-3 record. Jackson was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and joins fellow Wildcat Angela McMahon, who is in her second season as the head coach of the Huskies.
With the hirings of Finch and Jackson, head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller now has six of her former players who have joined the collegiate coaching ranks. In addition to McMahon and the two new hirings, former All-American Sarah Albrecht is an assistant coach at Harvard, while Lindsey Munday and Ann Elliott remain Amonte Hiller's assistants on the lakefront.