Jan. 24, 2012
2012 Champion Challenge
Northwestern vs. Team England
Saturday, Jan. 28 2 p.m. CT
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Kissimmee, Fla.
Live Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern vs. Team USA
Sunday, Jan. 29 10 a.m. CT
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Kissimmee, Fla.
Watch: ESPN3.com (live), ESPNU (tape delay, Sunday, Jan. 29, 9 p.m. CT)
Live Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
U.S. Lacrosse Champion Challenge -- Event Website
BUY Northwestern Lacrosse Season Tickets! | 2012 Northwestern Lacrosse Online Viewbook
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Before officially kicking off its NCAA title defense Feb. 10 at Stanford, Northwestern tests itself in exhibition action against the national teams of England and the United States on Jan. 28 and 29, respectively. The games are part of the seventh annual Champion Challenge staged by U.S. Lacrosse and will be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
On Sunday, Wildcat fans across the country can watch live when Northwestern takes on the U.S. National Team with ESPN3.com carrying the live stream of the game at 10 a.m. CT. A re-air of the match can be seen on ESPNU later in the evening at 9 p.m. CT. Below is the complete tournament schedule for the weekend (all times CT):
Friday, Jan. 27
6 p.m. - U.S. Women's Team vs. England Women's Team
6:30 p.m. - Jacksonville vs. Notre Dame (scrimmage)
Saturday, Jan. 28
10:30 a.m - England Women's Team vs. Syracuse
Noon - National Team Coaching Clinic
2 p.m. - England Women's Team vs. Northwestern
3:30 p.m - U.S. Men's Team/Notre Dame combined practice
4 p.m. - U.S. Women's Team vs. Maryland
6 p.m. - U.S. Women's Team vs. Maryland
Sunday, Jan. 29
10 a.m. - U.S. Women's Team vs. Northwestern
10 a.m. - England Women's Team vs. Maryland
12:30 p.m. - U.S. Men's Team vs. Denver
12:30 p.m. - U.S. Women's Team vs. Northwestern
Veteran Cast Returns for Wildcats
There can't be many teams in the country that return the type of offensive production and defensive experience that Northwestern does after its remarkable run to a sixth NCAA championship in seven years. Of the 14 players who scored more than one goal for the Wildcats a season ago, 13 will again be suiting up for NU in 2012, with graduated senior Brooke Matthews the lone exception (25 goals, seven assists in 2011). Northwestern can also rest easy when looking ahead to 2013; four of NU's top seven point-producers last season were underclassmen and will be back next year.
On the other end of the field, Northwestern's defense is led by a stalwart crew of returners including goalkeeper Brianne LoManto. Now entering her third and final season as a starter, LoManto begins the year with a 45-4 record, 317 saves and two runs to the national championship game under her belt. In front of her on defense is last season's IWLCA Defender of the Year, Taylor Thornton, along with multi-year contributors Lacey Vigmostad and Maria Tedeschi. Last year, the Wildcats ranked eighth in the nation with an 8.57 goals against average.
Current, Former Wildcats Look to Shine for Stars and Stripes
When the United States Women's National Team takes the field in Orlando this week, the squad once again will have a distinct purple flair to it. Last summer, U.S. Lacrosse selected six current and former Northwestern players to the 2011-12 senior national team. The list of Wildcats named to the roster is below along with their year of graduation and current occupation:
Sarah Albrecht (2006), Assoc. Head Coach, UMass
Katrina Dowd (2010), Asst. Coach, Syracuse
Lindsey Munday (2006), Head Coach, USC
Shannon Smith (2012), Sr., Northwestern
Danielle Spencer (2010), Asst Coach, Stanford
Taylor Thornton (2013) Jr., Northwestern
And Another Thing...
Northwestern's six representatives on the U.S. Women's National Team marked the second-highest contingent of any university, while Smith and Thornton are among nine players on the roster who are juggling their college careers with national team duties. The 36-player squad was chosen from more than 80 candidates and will lay the foundation for the team that will compete in the 2013 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Cup in Oshawa, Ontario.
Smith Poised to Topple Northwestern Records
Coming off one of the most prolific seasons in NCAA women's lacrosse history, 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy and Honda Sports Award winner Shannon Smith will be aiming to pick up in 2012 where she left off in her record-setting junior season. Smith's 86 goals set a Northwestern single-season standard and her 128 points were the second-most in school history. But in 2011 it was as much about the quality as the quantity of Smith's scoring. The Long Island native notched the decisive goals in NU's NCAA semifinal (14-13) and championship game (8-7) victories and also recorded four second-half goals in a 10-9 win over Florida in the ALC title game as well as a game-winning assist vs. No. 7 Stanford on April 24.
Heading into her senior campaign, Smith ranks in a tie for fifth in career assists at NU (80), sixth in points (268) and seventh in goals (188), leaving her within striking distance of becoming the Wildcats' all-time leader in both points and goals.
2012 Schedule: Homestands Highlight Tough Slate
It's nothing new for Kelly Amonte Hiller's squads to face a schedule full of many of the nation's most successful programs, but the 2012 schedule is still unique for a number of reasons. Chief among them are the two extended homestands that make up all of NU's Lakeside Field appearances: Northwestern plays four out of five at home between March 3 and March 25 before hosting five straight games to close the regular season between April 13 and April 28.
On the docket for the Wildcats in 2012 are eight teams that qualified for the NCAA Championship last season, including Duke and North Carolina, two of NU's fellow participants in the national semifinals. The Final Four rematch with the Tar Heels kicks off the final five-game homestand, preceding dates Johns Hopkins and Florida that could go a long way toward determining the American Lacrosse Conference championship. Another highlight at Lakeside Field includes the March 25 matchup with Navy as Cindy Timchal, head coach of the Midshipmen and Amonte Hiller's college coach, returns to Evanston where she was the first lacrosse coach in Northwestern history (1982-90).
Season tickets for Northwestern Lacrosse are on sale now, with 10-game passes available for $49 (adult), $29 (youth) and $99 (family plan: two adult, three youth). Season ticket holders also receive a free replica 2011 NCAA championship ring as well as an invitation to a closed Wildcats practice.
Leonard, Frank Aim to Repeat Dominance on the Draw
Northwestern won five one-goal games in 2011, thanks in no small part to the reliability of its two primary draw control specialists, Alex Frank and Alyssa Leonard. Leonard put up 91 in her freshman campaign -- tied for the second-best single-season total in Northwestern history -- en route to being named the ALC Freshman of the Year. Never was Leonard's skill more evident than in the conference championship game against Florida when she won nine draws on the day, including four in a row to help NU rally from a three-goal second-half deficit. For the season, the Wildcats came away with 62.6 percent of their draw control opportunities and ranked fourth nationally with 15.13 per game.
Frank, meanwhile, racked up 69 draws on the year and enters her senior campaign tied for sixth all-time at Northwestern with 174, just 29 shy of second place. In addition to her effort on the draw, Frank's All-American-caliber season in 2011 also consisted of 19 goals, 24 points, 26 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers
Six Seniors Provide Leadership for 'Cats
Throughout the 2012 season, Kelly Amonte Hiller can take comfort in knowing that she has six seniors with a remarkable amount of experience directing her troops on both ends of the field. Northwestern has six seniors on its roster who have combined to make 284 career starts, an average of 47.3 starts per individual. This year's senior class consists of midfielder Alex Frank, goalkeeper Brianne LoManto, midfielder/attack Jessica Russo, attack Shannon Smith, defender Maria Tedeschi and defender Lacey Vigmostad.
Amonte Hiller Featured in Upcoming Big Ten Icons Episode
In a year-long series that debuted in October, 2011, the Big Ten Network is profiling one coach from all 12 conference institutions who they consider to be a Big Ten icon. Kelly Amonte Hiller is Northwestern's representative on the list and is the subject of a 30-minute feature that debuts on Saturday, Feb. 18 (8:30 p.m. CT) on BTN. Other coaching legends profiled in the series include Indiana's Bobby Knight (men's basketball), Nebraska's Tom Osborne (football) and Iowa's Dan Gable (wrestling).
Fitzgerald Looks To Build on Strong 2011
Junior Erin Fitzgerald established herself as a consistent scoring threat for NU in 2011, finishing with 40 goals and 47 points--both good for second on the team behind Shannon Smith. She had seven games with at least three goals a year ago, including the NCAA quarterfinals vs. Albany and semifinals vs. North Carolina. Fitzgerald also paced the Wildcats with 13 free position goals on the season.
Thornton One of Nation's Top All-Around Threats
Junior Taylor Thornton earned 2011 IWLCA Division I Defender of the Year honors for her ability to combine lockdown defending with an end-to-end scoring threat. The Dallas native led the Wildcats with 38 ground balls and ranked third with 49 draw controls, behind only to specialists Alyssa Leonard and Alex Frank. On the defensive end, Thornton's performances included keeping the nation's leading goal-scorer, Kitty Cullen of Florida, without a goal in NU's 10-9 win in the ALC Championship game. But Thornton's ability to clear a defensive ride often put her in prime position for scoring chances, most memorably for the overtime game-winner vs. No. 3 North Carolina early in the 2011 regular season.
Looking Ahead: Stanford
When Northwestern's 2012 regular season officially gets underway, the Wildcats will be tasked with trying to put an end to one of the longest active home winning streaks in women's college lacrosse, traveling to take on No. 9 Stanford (Feb. 10). The Cardinal have won 22 consecutive games at Cagan Stadium dating to a loss against Syracuse on Feb. 20, 2009. Interestingly, Northwestern defeated Stanford in the 2010 season-opener in a game originally scheduled to be played at Cagan Stadium. But heavy rains before the game shifted the action to Stanford's Varsity Turf field, thereby preserving the Cardinal's winning streak in their home stadium.
Last year's battle between the two teams resulted in a 12-11 NU victory in which Shannon Smith scored a career-high-tying seven goals before finding Alex Frank for the game-winner with 23 seconds remaining. The Cardinal went on to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament and advance to the NCAA Championship, finishing 16-3 after a first-round loss to Florida. The Cardinal graduated their top four leading point-scorers from a year ago and will count on senior Emilie Boeri (27g, 12a in 2011) to provide an offensive boost.
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