Senior Kirstyn Atkinson has played in 64 games during her NU career, including her first start at Florida last Friday.Senior Kirstyn Atkinson has played in 64 games during her NU career, including her first start at Florida last Friday.

Final Homestand Pits NU Against No. 20 Ohio State, No. 7 Stanford

April 20, 2011

WEATHER UPDATE (9:30 p.m. CT): Lightning strikes in the Evanston area caused the game to be delayed with 11:07 to play in the first half and Northwestern leading 3-2. The teams are back on the field and will resume play shortly with a two-minute halftime scheduled. Stay tuned to NUsports.com and Twitter for any additional updates.

No. 5 Northwestern (12-2, 2-2 ALC) vs. No. 20 Ohio State (8-5, 1-2 ALC)
Friday, April 22
Lakeside Field
Evanston, Ill. • 7 p.m.
Streaming Video: BigTenNetwork.com
Audio: WNUR 89.3 FM
Gametracker:
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE

No. 5 Northwestern (12-2, 2-2 ALC) vs. No. 7 Stanford (14-1, 6-0 MPSF)
Sunday, April 24
Lakeside Field
Evanston, Ill. • 1 p.m.
Streaming Video: BigTenNetwork.com
Audio: WNUR 89.3 FM
Gametracker:
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE

NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Statistics

Northwestern Weekly Release -- April 20 Get Acrobat Reader

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 5 Northwestern sets out this weekend to put a stop to its brief two-game losing skid when it plays its final American Lacrosse Conference tilt of the year Friday against Ohio State. On Sunday, the 'Cats remain at home to celebrate Senior Day and face No. 7 Stanford, NU's seventh top-10-ranked opponent this season.

Wildcats on the Web
Northwestern fans who can't make it out to Lakeside Field can instead head to BigTenNetwork.com to watch live streaming video of both contests this weekend, or tune into WNUR radio on 89.3 FM. Fans may also click on Gametracker or receive updates on Twitter (@NU_SportsLIVE) for both outings.

Scouting the Buckeyes
2011: 8-5 overall, 4-1 away, No. 20 IWLCA
Last Three Games: L at Penn State (11-10 (OT)), W at Detroit (26-3), W at Vanderbilt (17-16)
Head Coach: Alexis Venechanos (Maryland, '03); First season at Ohio State (8-5, .615)
Key Players: Alayna Markwordt (Jr., M): 42 goals, 20 assists; Brittney Zerhusen (Sr., A): 38 goals, 18 assists, 10 draw controls; Jayme Beard (Sr., M): 18 goals, 16 assists, 38 draw controls, 21 ground balls; Annie Carruthers (Sr., GK): 87 saves, 9.79 goals against average, .444 save percentage

Series Information
Two former members of the Northwestern lacrosse family returns to Evanston this weekend as Ohio State head coach Alexis Venechanos brings her Buckeyes to Lakeside Field. Venechanos served as an assistant coach to Kelly Amonte Hiller for three seasons, helping NU to its first two NCAA championships before departing to take the reins at UMass. Venechanos' assistant coach Christy Finch, was a member of those first two national title-winning teams and went on to complete her Northwestern playing career (2005-08) as a four-time national champ. Finch was a two-time All-American and IWLCA Defensive Player of the Year award winner. Now in their first season in Columbus, Venechanos and Finch, along with fellow assistant Amanda Belichick, are tasked with snapping a seven-game Northwestern winning streak in the series against Ohio State. When these two teams met in the 2010 regular season, then-freshman Ali Cassera set a career high with four goals in a 17-11 Northwestern victory.

Scouting the Cardinal
2011: 14-1 overall, 6-1 away, No. 7 IWLCA
Last Three Games: W at Oregon (18-13), W vs. Denver (16-6), W at Saint Mary's (20-7)
Head Coach: Amy Bokker (William & Mary '95), second season at Stanford (28-7, .800)
Key Players: Sarah Flynn (Jr., A/M): 41 goals, five assists; Leslie Foard (Sr., M): 32 goals, 14 assists, 42 draw controls; Anna Boeri (Jr., M): 14 goals, 16 assists, 21 ground balls, 12 caused turnovers; Annie Read (Sr., GK): 91 saves, 9.63 goals against average, .464 save percentage

Series Information:
A win over the Cardinal Sunday would extend Northwestern's streak in the series to six games after a Stanford victory in the first-ever meeting in 2003. Last year, Shannon Smith scored five points on four goals and an assist while Katrina Dowd found the back of the net on six occasions as Northwestern bested Stanford, 18-11, in Palo Alto. Prior to that game, these two teams had not shared a lacrosse field since May 14, 2006, a 17-9 Northwestern victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Wildcats Top First RPI Rankings
Despite suffering its first two losses of the season last weekend, Northwestern debuted at No. 1 in the first release of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse RPI rankings, announced on Thursday, April 21. All six members of the ALC are in the top-20 of the RPI, including No. 13 Ohio State, while NU's Sunday opponent, Stanford, checks in just ahead of the Buckeyes at No. 12. The RPI takes into account such factors as wins and losses, strength of schedule and road vs. home performance.

Senior Superlatives
On Sunday against Stanford, a quintet of Northwestern seniors will be playing their final regular-season contests at Lakeside Field, giving NU fans an opportunity to appreciate the incredible contributions the seniors have made to the program. The 2011 senior class has contributed to 76 wins compared to just four losses -- including a home record of 36-1 -- while reaching three NCAA title games and winning two national championships. Making up the group are Kirstyn Atkinson (D, Baltimore, Md.), Rachel Fox (M, Andover, Mass.), Colleen Magarity (D, Oreland, Pa.), Brooke Matthews (M/A, Baltimore, Md.) and Darby St. Clair-Barrie (GK, Scituate, Mass.).

Last Time Out: Wildcats Fall Short At Johns Hopkins, 12-11
Baltimore native Brooke Matthews scored a hat trick playing down the street from her high school alma mater, but it wasn't enough for No. 2 Northwestern as it lost a back-and-forth battle, 12-11, to ALC foe Johns Hopkins Saturday at Homewood Field. Eight other Wildcats joined Matthews with goals. After Northwestern jumped to a quick 3-0 lead, Johns Hopkins kept pace and eventually pulled level at six, the first of five times the score was all squared up. JHU scored goals with 13 and seven minutes remaining, however, to take a 12-10 lead it would not relinquish.

'Cats Up For Tewaaraton
As the 2011 regular season hits the stretch run, the Greater Washington Sports Alliance has narrowed its list of nominees for the 2011 Tewaaraton Award, presented annually to the top player in men's and women's lacrosse. Northwestern junior attack Shannon Smith and sophomore defender Taylor Thornton each appear on the revised list, which was reduced from 55 to 24 female candidates.

Smith also was named to the midseason watch list as a sophomore in 2010 while Thornton was selected as a Tewaaraton nominee for the first time this year.

In Control
Northwestern continues to top all NCAA teams with its efficiency on the draw control, hauling in 17.5 per game to lead second-place UC Davis by nearly 1.3 draws per contest. Freshman Alyssa Leonard, who earlier this year tied a school record with the third 10-draw control performance in NU history, has been a key contributor with her clip of 4.2 draw controls per game. Junior Alex Frank, meanwhile, ranks second on the team with 48 draw controls and has moved up to sixth all-time at NU with 153 career draw controls. Frank recorded seven draws in back-to-back games earlier this season, single-handedly matching Syracuse's team total on March 23.

Smith Drives Northwestern Attack
Northwestern's prolific offense -- which has averaged just under 15.14 goals per game, the fifth-best clip in the nation -- has been spearheaded by Shannon Smith, who leads the NCAA in points per game with 5.57, nearly half a point per game better than Lehigh's Lauren Dykstra in second place. Smith also ranks in a tie for fifth nationally with 46 total goals. The junior has joined NU's all-time greats in several statistical categories this year, moving into ninth in career points (218), 10th in goals (148) and seventh in assists (70).

Smith comes into play this weekend having scored at least one goal in 36 consecutive outings.

Looking Ahead
Following this weekend's action, Northwestern has one road test remaining against No. 10 Virginia before beginning preparations for the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament, May 5-7, in Nashville, Tenn. Florida has secured the No. 1 seed at the event thanks to its 5-0 conference mark, leaving Northwestern (2-2 ALC) in contention for the No. 2 seed. NU holds a head-to-head advantage over Penn State, also 2-2, but will need a loss by Johns Hopkins (1-2) in its final two ALC games in order to put away the No. 2 spot.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!