| 2015 Northwestern Lacrosse -- Game 17 |
|
| No. 9 Northwestern (11-5, 3-2) vs. Michigan (5-11, 0-5) | |
| Date | Thursday, April 30 | 2 p.m. CT |
| Location | High Point Solutions Stadium | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Gametracker | |
| Live Stream | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Gameday Info | Tournament Central | Bracket |
| Social Media | @NU_SportsLIVE  | @NULax | Facebook  |
| Game Notes | Northwestern | Michigan |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The ninth-ranked Wildcats will open the inaugural Big Ten Tournament on Thursday as the No. 3 see when they play No. 6 seed Michigan at 2 p.m. The `Cats finished the first Big Ten season with a 3-2 mark and secured the No. 3 seed with a dominating 16-6 victory over Ohio State in the regular-season finale.
Despite a pair of losses to top seeds Maryland and Penn State in the regular season, Chicago's Big Ten Team finished with the second-best scoring margin during conference play, outscoring their opponents in their three wins, 51-20.
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup will advance to take on No. 2 seed Penn State on Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Bianco Snags Second B1G Honor
In what may have been the final home game of her career, senior Bridget Bianco played arguably her best game of the season last Saturday. Bianco posted her fourth double-digit save performance of the season, stopping 10 of the 13 shots she faced to finish with a .769 save percentage in 49:35 of play. She was honored on Monday by being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Wessels Gets Second B1G Plaudit Too
Bianco wasn't the only player to earn weekly honors Monday as Corinne Wessels was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. Wessels sparked a 6-0 first half run with a pair of assists and a goal and finished the contest with five points on a season-high two goals and three assists. The freshman enters the Big Ten Tournament as the Wildcats' leader with 15 assists despite missing the first four games of the season to injury.
Lasota Named Tewaaraton Nominee
Freshman Selena Lasota was named one of 25 nominees for the Tewaaraton Award on Thursday, awarded to the top college lacrosse player in the country each season. Lasota was one of three freshman named to the list of 25 candidates, joining Kylie Ohlmiller of Stony Brook and Megan Whittle of Maryland. Three different Wildcats have won the Tewaaraton Trophy a total of five times in program history - Kristen Kjellman (2006, '07), Hannah Nielsen (2008, '09) and Shannon Smith (2011).
Among the Nation's Best
Lasota finished the regular season as the Big Ten's leader in goals per game (3.5) and tied for the league lead in total goals (56). She ranks sixth in the nation in goals per game, seventh in total goals, 24th in points per game (3.94), 28th in total points (63) and 82nd in caused turnovers per game (1.25). The freshman has scored at least two goals in all 16 games this season and became the first Wildcat freshman to eclipse the 50-goal plateau since Kristen Kjellman in 2003.
Don't Mess With Mupo
Senior Kara Mupo opened the season with a bang by matching her career high with five goals and surpassing 100 career goals. But a mid season injury forced her to miss a pair of games. Since her return, Mupo has been a pain in the side of her opponents, scoring 26 goals in the 10-game span. She once again matched her career high with five goals in a win over Syracuse on the day of her return and scored four goals in back-to-back games against Louisville and Michigan. Mupo is the Wildcats' career active leader in goals (130), assists (23) and points (153) and is second on the team with 32 goals this season.
All-Time Series
The Wildcats earned their first Big Ten victory at Michigan on April 2, 17-8, to improve to 2-0 against the Wolverines. Freshman Selena Lasota scored six goals and dished out a pair of assists to tally a season-high eight points , senior Kara Mupo scored four goals and junior Kaleigh Craig scored three goals. In addition to the `Cats' leaders, freshmen Iona Dryden and Hayley Ciklin each scored their first career goals. Freshman Shelby Fredericks also had a stand out day, tying the sixth-best single-game mark in program history with a season-high nine draw controls. The Wildcats have outscored the Wolverines 37-14 in the only two meetings.
@NULax Gameday At-A-Glance
Game details, series history, facts, figures and more to get you set for Northwestern's matchup vs. Michigan...
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, subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for 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!