Jessica Russo's goal with five seconds remaining before halftime of the NCAA title game tied the score at five, helping NU recover from a 4-1 deficit on its way to the national championship.Jessica Russo's goal with five seconds remaining before halftime of the NCAA title game tied the score at five, helping NU recover from a 4-1 deficit on its way to the national championship.

Season Recap: Wildcats Rise to Occasion for Program's Sixth NCAA Title

June 23, 2011

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EVANSTON, Ill. -- After entering a season without the title of defending champs for the first time since 2005, NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller and Northwestern redoubled their efforts to regain their place atop the college lacrosse world. The hard work paid off, with NU winning at least 20 games for the seventh year in a row and battling to a pair of one-goal victories on championship weekend in Stony Brook to capture the program's sixth national championship in seven years.

The following is a look back at many of the team and individual moments that made 2011 such a memorable season.

Early Tests
Continuing its trend of annually testing itself against the nation's best, then-No. 2 Northwestern did just that in the early going by opening the season on the road against No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 11 Vanderbilt. NU came out on top on all three occasions, vanquishing the Tar Heels in overtime, 7-6, on the strength of a remarkable Taylor Thornton tally. It proved to be a preview of another one-goal game for the Wildcats on championship weekend in May.

By overcoming the Commodores, 17-6, Northwestern extended its ALC Championship winning streak to 37 games dating to 2004.

The following week, a pair of individual performances highlighted two more road victories for NU, beginning with the third 10-draw control effort in NU history by freshman Alyssa Leonard vs. Navy. Two days later, junior attacker Shannon Smith showed a glimpse of the lethal scorer she would be all year for NU, notching the sixth game of at least 10 points in Northwestern history with five goals and five assists against then-No. 6 Georgetown on March 5.

Big Win in Big 'D' • Game Highlights • Postgame Interviews
After taking care of California in its home-opener -- getting a hat trick from freshman Kelly Rich in her Lakeside Field debut -- Northwestern had the opportunity to play in one of the world's great sporting venues in its next game. The 'Cats faced off with William & Mary in majestic Cowboys Stadium on March 19 as part of the Dallax 2011 event hosted by womenslacrosse.com. Nine different Wildcats found the back of the net, led by Smith's eight points on the evening, while sophomore standout and Dallas native Taylor Thornton played on the home field of her favorite NFL franchise.

Northwestern Runs Winning Streak to 12
As the weather slowly began to turn to spring, NU reeled off five more victories, with four of those coming at home. The 'Cats' lone road win in that stretch came at Massachusetts, where sophomore Erin Fitzgerald set a career high with five goals in a 17-7 victory. On April 2, NU used a huge 11-save performance in goal by junior Brianne LoManto to hold off fourth-ranked and eventual NCAA semifinalist Duke, 12-10.

'Cats Cope with Adversity
A conference road trip in the middle of April proved to be a difficult one for Northwestern, with the 'Cats first falling to upstart Florida, 13-11, before being tripped up by Johns Hopkins, 12-11. With three regular season games remaining, Northwestern rededicated its commitment on both ends of the field, an effort that showed in a win over conference foe Ohio State on April 22. Then on Senior Day, it was a career-high-tying seven-goal effort by Shannon Smith -- as well as her assist on the game-winning goal to Alex Frank -- that lifted NU to a 12-11 win over No. 7 Stanford.

NU then polished off the regular season with a disciplined 8-4 win at Virginia -- where junior Jessica Russo notched a goal and an assist while freshman Kat DeRonda scored twice in her first career start -- and turned their attention to the second season.

Wildcats Win Thrilling ALC Championship • Recap • Photo Gallery • Postgame Interviews
With Vanderbilt serving as host for the 2011 American Lacrosse Conference Championship, Northwestern took care of business in its semifinal matchup with Penn State by not allowing the Nittany Lions to get on the scoreboard in the second half and eventually winning, 14-3. That set up a rematch with the top-seeded Gators of Florida, who looked poised to end NU's run of ALC titles when they held a three-goal lead midway through the second half. But Shannon Smith finally solved the Gator defense, scoring twice to pull NU within one before Jessica Russo and Amanda Macaluso netted goals to give Northwestern the lead for good. The comeback was also enabled by a nine-draw control day for Leonard, who earlier in the week had been named ALC Rookie of the Year.

NU Returns Crown to Evanston • Championship Recap: Photos • Highlights • Quotes
The Wildcats easily dispatched of two first-time NCAA Championship qualifiers at Lakeside Field, defeating Boston College (11-8) before coasting by previously undefeated Albany, 18-4. That set up a meeting in the national semifinals with No. 3 North Carolina for the second straight year, a game that played out much like the regular season matchup did back on Feb. 25. With the game tied at 10, two minutes to play and the right to play for the national title on the line, there was little doubt whose stick Northwestern would put the ball in. As she'd done all season, junior Shannon Smith answered the call for a crunch-time goal, scoring with 18 seconds remaining to send NU past the Heels, 11-10, and into its seventh consecutive NCAA championship game.

Northwestern then brought home its sixth NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship with a gut-wrenching 8-7 victory over top-seeded and defending champion Maryland, and did so with its most complete team effort of the 2011 season. NU shut down the nation's fourth-leading offense, keeping Maryland to two second-half goals, while also coming back from an early 4-1 deficit thanks to four goals by tournament MVP Shannon Smith. In a back-and-forth first half, Maryland scored four goals in a span of 1:34 but was held in check to the tune of only one goal in the remaining 28:26 of the first 30 minutes as the game went to halftime tied at five. But unlike the 2010 title game matchup between these teams, NU overwhelmingly controlled the pace of the game in the second half, taking the lead for good at the 15:23 mark and controlling possession for the final quarter of the game.

Defense Won a Championship
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller devised a superb defensive game plan for NU's title game tilt with Maryland, allowing the 'Cats to close the year surrendering fewer than 10 goals in six of the last seven games (and exactly 10 in the other). Against the high-powered Terps, Amonte Hiller called on freshman defender Kerri Harrington to make her first start with the task of shutting down Tewaaraton Award finalist Sarah Mollison. Harrington did just not, holding Mollison without a point for the first time in 67 games. Anchoring the defense was the stellar play of goalkeeper Brianne LoManto, who came up big time and time again on championship weekend, finishing with a combined 13 saves en route to all-tournament team honors. Beginning with the regular season finale vs. Virginia, NU held its opponent scoreless for spans of at least 18 minutes on seven occasions -- including a 41-minute stretch vs. the Cavaliers -- and allowed a paltry 6.4 goals per contest from that game on. NU ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense this season.

Shannon Smith Garners National Player of the Year, Big Ten Athlete of the Year Honors
After leading the nation in points from wire to wire in the regular season, Shannon Smith's explosive postseason vaulted her into elite company at NU and in NCAA history. Smith scored exactly five goals in her first four postseason outings but saved her best for last, notching the game-winners in an 11-10 semifinal defeat of North Carolina as well as in the 8-7 championship victory vs. Maryland, finishing with four goals in each game. In doing so, she eclipsed NU's previous record for single-season goals scored with 86, surpassing Hilary Bowen's 2008 total of 81. Her 128 points were second-most in a single season at NU -- behind only Hannah Nielsen's 142 -- and seventh-best all-time in Division I. Smith, who has scored at least once in 45 straight games, has quickly climbed Northwestern's career lists as well, moving into a tie for fifth in assists (80), sixth in points (268) and seventh in goals (188).

By the time the dust had settled, Smith had garnered a litany of postseason accolades, including: the Tewaaraton Award, Lacrosse Honda Sports Award, Big Ten Suzy Favor Female Athlete of the Year, IWLCA Attacker of the Year, Inside Lacrosse Player of the Year and first-team All-American.

NU Lands Four First-Team All-Americans
Four Northwestern players have been named to the 2011 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-America teams, the organization announced Monday. Junior Shannon Smith repeated as a first-team honoree and was joined on the first team by Taylor Thornton -- the IWLCA Defender of the Year -- while senior Colleen Magarity and junior Alex Frank each garnered third-team recognition. Smith, Frank and Thornton all attained the status of two-time All-Americans in 2011 while Magarity was recognized for the first time, bringing NU's totals to 18 different players receiving 37 IWLCA All-American honors since 2004.

Not Alone on the Island
Northwestern has long tapped the lacrosse hotbed of Long Island, but the 2011 Wildcats were the first to be able to win a national championship playing so close to their native land. Nine current 'Cats returned home for championship weekend at Stony Brook, seven of which were in the starting lineup for NU's semifinal game vs. UNC. Their mark on the national title was unmistakable, with all eight Northwestern goals being scored by native Long Islanders, and goalkeeper Brianne LoManto playing an instrumental Stony Brook was just the second host school from the state of New York since the Championship's inception in 1982.

'Cats in the NCAA Championship
Northwestern has thrived in the national tournament under Kelly Amonte Hiller, reaching the quarterfinals in 2004 before beginning its active streak of seven consecutive national title game appearances. NU is 28-2 in the postseason since 2002 with a 13.9 goals per game average in those 30 contests while limiting its opponents to 8.0 goals per outing. Including the early days of Wildcats lacrosse, Northwestern is 29-7 in the dance, an all-time Division I-best winning percentage of .805. Only Maryland (12) has a longer streak of appearances in the national semifinals than Northwestern's current run of seven.

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