April 4, 2012
No. 1 Northwestern (10-0, 2-0 ALC) at No. 12 Penn State (8-3, 1-1 ALC)
Friday, April 6 6 p.m. CT
Penn State Lacrosse Field
University Park, Pa.
Live Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Live Stats: Gametracker
No. 1 Northwestern (10-0, 2-0 ALC) at No. 8 Penn (6-3, 4-0 Ivy League)
Sunday, April 8 11 a.m. CT
Franklin Field
Philadelphia, Pa.
Live Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Live Stats/Video: PennAthletics.com
Buy NU Lacrosse Tickets Online! | 2012 Promotional Calendar
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Embarking on their final road trip of the 2012 regular season, the No. 1-ranked Wildcats must go through a pair of challenging opponents this weekend in order to close out a perfect 6-0 mark in true road games for the year. First up is an American Lacrosse Conference test at No. 12 Penn State Friday evening, followed by a Sunday matchup with a traditional rival for Northwestern, eighth-ranked Penn, in Philadelphia.
Northwestern On the Web
Fans not able to watch the Wildcats in person this weekend are encouraged to access live Twitter updates (@NU_SportsLIVE) during the game along with live stats via Gametracker, linked above. A live online stream of Northwestern's Sunday contest at Penn is tentatively scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT and can be found on PennAthletics.com.
Scouting the Nittany Lions:
2012: 8-3, 1-1 ALC, No. 12 IWLCA
Last Three Games: L vs. Florida (20-11); W vs. William & Mary (9-7); W at Vanderbilt (12-11)
Head Coach: Missy Doherty (Maryland '97); 18-11 at PSU (second year); 97-57 career (9th season)
Key Players: Mackenzie Cyr (So., A): 21 goals, 14 assists, .538 shooting pct.; Tatum Coffey (Fr., M): 26 goals, 18 ground balls, 36 draw controls; Lizzy Carney (So., M): 25 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers, 3 goals
In Goal: Dana Cahill (Sr.): 105 saves, 9.59 goals against average, .502 save pct.
Second-year head coach Missy Doherty, a teammate of Kelly Amonte Hiller's in their playing days at Maryland, has her Nittany Lion team off to a strong start and a No. 12 ranking thanks in large part to some underclassmen putting up big numbers. Freshman Tatum Coffey leads the squad with 26 goals while sophomore Mackenzie Cyr leads the Lions with 35 points. However, Doherty does rely on a veteran presence in the cage where she returned the 2011 ALC Goalkeeper of the Year, Dana Cahill. Penn State has split its first two ALC contests, picking up a key road win vs. Vanderbilt in overtime before falling to fourth-ranked Florida, 20-11.
Series Information
Northwestern owns a 13-4 advantage in its all-time series with Penn State, including wins in the last 12 meetings. NU won handily both times it met Penn State last season, including in the ALC Tournament semifinals when the Wildcats kept the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard for the final 34 minutes of a 14-3 victory. That matchup marked the fifth time in the five-year history of the conference tournament that Northwestern and Penn State squared off in the event, with NU winning all five times.
Scouting the Quakers:
2012: 6-3, 4-0 Ivy League, No. 8 IWLCA
Last Three Games: W vs. Columbia (19-8); L vs. Maryland (14-6); W at Cornell (11-10)
Head Coach: Karin Brower Corbett (William & Mary '92); 13th season at Penn (134-75)
Key Players: Erin Brennan (Sr., A): 21 goals, 19 assists, .512 shooting pct.; Meredith Cain (Jr., M): 18 goals, 27 draw controls; Maddie Poplawski (Jr., M): 15 goals, 13 ground balls, 35 draw controls
In Goal: Emily Leitner (Sr.): 10.18 goals against average, 73 saves, 89 goals against
Led by the scoring prowess of Erin Brennan and the goalkeeping of Emily Leitner, Penn has staked itself to a 4-0 start in the Ivy League, with two one-goal wins in the league and an important showdown with Dartmouth looming after the Wildcats' visit to Philadelphia. Veteran head coach Karin Brower Corbett has received key boosts in the midfield by Meredith Cain and Maddie Poplawski, both of whom have displayed their ability to score as well as pressure opponents on the other end.
Series Information
Northwestern and Penn developed a unique rivalry in recent seasons as the 'Cats and Quakers met in two national semifinal games and one NCAA title matchup between 2007-09, most recently NU's dramatic 13-12 double-overtime victory in the 2009 semifinals. Still, Northwestern has won nine of 10 meetings since 2005, including an exciting 14-10 outcome last season in Evanston. A four-goal run by the Quakers to open the second half knotted the score at seven, but an ensuing NU spurt was enough to hold off the visitors down the stretch.
Last Time Out
In the first-ever women's collegiate sporting event at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., Northwestern rallied from a four-goal deficit in the second half and eventually prevailed in overtime, defeating 14th-ranked Ohio State, 13-12. The Wildcats were on the brink of defeat before Erin Fitzgerald scored her fifth goal of the day on an 8-meter attempt with 19 seconds remaining to force the extra session. Fitzgerald's five goals, which put her over 100 goals in her NU career, tied her previous single-game best while the six points marked a career high for the junior from Mt. Sinai, N.Y. Junior Taylor Thornton also stepped up with nine draw controls, four more than her previous single-game high.
Northwestern Against the ALC
Few teams in any sport have had as much success against their conference opponents as Northwestern has had against American Lacrosse Conference foes over the past eight seasons. The Wildcats won 38 consecutive regular-season ALC games between May 6, 2004 and April 14, 2011, and now boast wins in 43 of their last 45 games against ALC opponents. Northwestern has won seven consecutive ALC titles and has won all five ALC tournaments since the event's inception in 2007. In 2011, the 'Cats entered the tournament without the No. 1 seed for the first time and still managed to bring home the hardware, avenging a prior loss to top-seeded Florida in the championship game, 10-9, in Nashville.
ALC Spotlights Frank with Weekly Defensive Honors
Northwestern senior Alex Frank has been named the Defender of the Week in the American Lacrosse Conference after helping the Wildcats erase a four-goal deficit against No. 14 Ohio State Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Playing only a short drive from her native Westwood, Mass., Frank worked relentlessly on defense to help NU regain possession during its comeback from an 11-7 second-half deficit. Frank finished with four caused turnovers, three ground balls and three draw controls in the win. The All-American senior is now tied for second all-time at NU with 87 caused turnovers, ranks fifth with 188 draw controls and stands one ground ball shy of 100 for her career.
Speaking Statistically
Northwestern features prominently in the most recent NCAA Division I women's lacrosse statistics, ranking third nationally with 6.9 goals against per game and fourth in goals scored at 15.7. The Wildcats also are 10th in caused turnovers with 9.1 per outing and 11th in draw controls with 14.6, or 58.6 percent of their draw control opportunities off the circle.
Individually, senior Shannon Smith sits in a tie for sixth in the country with her 3.5 goals per game while senior netminder Brianne LoManto continues to lead the nation with her impressive 6.33 goals against average.
In Control
Junior Taylor Thornton keyed Northwestern's comeback against Ohio State by shattering her previous single-game best total for draw controls, fighting her way to nine on the day to top her previous high of five. Thornton joins Alyssa Leonard as the only current Wildcats to claim nine draw controls in a single game during their careers, a feat that has been achieved by a Northwestern player just nine times since 2002. Thornton's 41 draw controls this season give her 123 for her career, good for eighth all-time at NU.
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