EVANSTON, Ill. -- Nothing, not even the weather, was going to prevent the Northwestern Lacrosse program from keeping its season alive Friday afternoon.
In fact, you may argue that a 2-hour, 33-minute weather delay to lightning in the area provided the electricity the 'Cats needed to pull away from Louisville and improve to 21-0 at Lakeside Field in NCAA Tournament play under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.
The Wildcats broke a 4-4 halftime tie following the delay, outscoring the Cardinals 6-3 in the second half en route to a 10-7 victory and a matchup against Notre Dame in the second round on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Fighting Irish won the second game of the Friday doubleheader over Ohio State, 13-11.
Freshman Selena Lasota led the Wildcats as she has for much of the season, scoring a game-high four goals and assisting on a goal by classmate Corinne Wessels to finish the day with five points. Junior Christina Esposito scored a season-high two goals - scoring at least two goals in a game for the first time since February 25, 2014 - and junior Kaleigh Craig extended her multi-goal streak to 11 games with a pair of goals.
After playing to a 4-4 tie through the first 30 minutes, the two teams were forced to leave the facility and wait out a thunder and lightning storm. When they returned to the field, the 'Cats dominated, particularly in the draw control circle to break the game open. Louisville, led by senior Kaylin Morissette's 10.47 draw controls per game, entered the game ranked fifth in the country, but it was all NU in the second half.
Freshman Shelby Fredericks finished with a team-high four draw controls, but it was her ability to limit Morissette in the second half that allowed the 'Cats to finish with a 8-2 advantage in the final 30 minutes and 12-7 advantage throughout the game.
The domination of possession allowed the 'Cats to quickly break the tie behind the scoring of Lasota. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year put Chicago's Big Ten Team in front just 1:12 into the second half as she beat a pair of defenders to the right side of the fan and fired a jump shot in the top left corner of the cage for a 5-4 lead. She completed a hat trick - her 11th game this season with at least three goals - just over five minutes later to extend the lead to 6-4.
A foul on senior goalkeeper Bridget Bianco outside of the cage left a wide open net for Kelli Gerding at the 22:44 mark of the second half to cut the `Cats' lead to one, 6-5. Espositio quickly countered the tally however, beating the Cardinals backer defense by herself when she split a pair of defenders and scored her second goal of the contest on the right side of the crease. It was the first time since she scored multiple goals since a career-high three against Marquette on Feb. 25, 2014 and marked her fourth career multi-goal game.
Morissette beat a pair of Wildcats to the top of the crease and scored her first goal of the contest with 15:12 left to once again cut the `Cats' lead to one, but Wessels scored on the feed from Lasota and Craig converted a free-position to push the lead to three, 9-6.
The Cardinals had an opportunity following a draw control win by Morissette, but a double team by junior Lauren Murray and freshman Shannon Nesselbush caused a turnover and allowed the `Cats to run six-plus minutes off the clock.
Morissette scored a second goal with 4:19 left, but Northwestern won the ensuing draw control and seemingly ran out the clock before senior Blake McHugh slammed the door shut with a goal with just 21 seconds remaining.
The Wildcats and Cardinals battled through the first 30 minutes, heading to the halftime break all square, 4-4.
The `Cats struck first as junior Christina Esposito split a pair of defenders at the top of the fan and fired a shot from the left side of the crease for her seventh goal of the season just about five minutes into the contest.
The Cards struck back with back-to-back goals by junior Courtnee Daly before senior captain Faye Brust, playing in her first game since injuring her knee against UNC on April 4, scored on a feed from Daly with 16:48 on the clock to extend the their lead to a pair of goals, 3-1.
It was then that the `Cats' freshman phenom Selena Lasota got into the act to bring Chicago's Big Ten Team back. Lasota scored a free-position with 15:54 left in the half and then came off a screen and pass from sophomore Sheila Nesselbush with 9:21 remaining in the half to even the game, 3-3.
A free-position by Hannah Koloski put the Cards back in front at the 8:09 mark, 4-3, but junior Kaleigh Craig went five hole on the Louisville keeper with 6:24 left to tie the game again, 4-4.
Junior Lauren Murray led the Wildcats with a pair of caused turnovers and tied for the team lead with a pair of ground balls as well. Bianco made three saves to earn her 13th victory of the season.
