Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Lacrosse Heading to National Club Championships
5/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 10, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - After the announcement last year that the Northwestern University women's lacrosse program would regain varsity status for the 2002 spring season, the Wildcats apparently wanted to make one final statement as a club program.
Playing the 2001 season with "elevated club" status, Northwestern won the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) playoff championship for the first time ever Saturday in Toledo, Ohio. As a result, the Wildcats will participate in the inaugural U.S. Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates (USLIA) Women's Championship the weekend of May 11-13 at the Anhueser-Busch Sports Centre in St. Louis, Mo. The eight-team women's club championship event will run in conjunction with the 16-team USLIA Men's Championship, which is making its fifth straight appearance in the Gateway City.
"We have worked hard each day of the season and raised our level of play with each game," said Kelly Amonte-Hiller, a member of several NCAA champion teams at Maryland who came on board for this season after being named in July to lead the Northwestern program back to prominence at the varsity level. "We are extremely excited going into this national championship. This is a familiar situation for me, having been involved in championship situations before. But this is a great stepping stone for all of the players involved, and the experience of being in a championship setting is invaluable as we move forward toward varsity status.
"We hope to continue elevating our level during each game of the national tournament, and ultimately play our best game in the championship."
At the WCLL Playoffs, the third-seeded Wildcats (19-1) knocked off Michigan in the quarterfinal round and second-seeded Michigan State in the semifinal round, both by 9-4 scores. In the championship, Northwestern avenged its only loss of 2001, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off top-seeded Miami (Ohio), 5-3.
Amonte-Hiller has also had an immediate impact as a recruiter. She signed nine players during the early signing period this fall, and six more already this spring.
Here is the schedule for the USLIA Women's Championship:
POOL A
1. Navy
2. Northwestern
3. Texas A&M
4. Michigan State
POOL B
1. Army
2. Cal Poly-SLO
3. Georgia
4. Miami (Ohio)
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 12
9:00 am
Game 1 - Navy vs. Michigan State
Game 2 - Army vs. Miami (Ohio)
10:45 am
Game 3 - Northwestern vs. Texas A&M
Game 4 - Cal Poly-SLO vs. Georgia
1:00 pm
Game 5 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3
Game 6 - Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4
4:30 pm
Game 7 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 8 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4
Sunday, May 13
9:30 am
Game 9 - Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8
Game 10 - Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7
1:30 pm
Championship Game - Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10
