Northwestern
Davidson
Women's Lacrosse Edges Davidson, 7-6
4/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 20, 2002
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it.
On Saturday, Northwestern's women's lacrosse team jogged its memory -- and just in time.
After building a solid 6-1 lead early in the second half of Saturday's neutral-site game against Davidson, Northwestern saw the lead shrink dramatically as the Davidson Wildcats poured in one goal after another. And with each goal, it became increasingly hard to ignore the memory of two weeks ago, when NU held a 6-1, second-half lead on yet another set of Wildcats -- this time from the University of New Hampshire -- before succumbing, 7-6.
Fortunately, NU remembered its history. As a result, the 7-6 decision on the scoreboard when the final horn sounded Saturday lay in favor of the Wildcats from Evanston.
Northwestern has now won three games in a row and is 5-7 overall in this inaugural season back as a varsity program, and perhaps more impressively the Wildcats are 2-2 in the newly formed American Lacrosse Conference. Davidson, meanwhile, fell to 5-10 overall (0-4 ALC).
Sarah Albrecht (Braintree, Mass./Thayer Academy) had two goals and two assists, including a feed on what would prove to be the gamewinner by Donna McCann (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) with 6:07 left in regulation. The goal was McCann's second of the day and her third point.
Still, the ending was not without its nervous moments. Davidson made the score 7-6 with 1:04 to play in regulation after Northwestern squandered several opportunities to run the clock with turnovers. And with the clock down to its final seconds, a shot by Davidson's Loren Seaton rang off the crossbar and out of harm's way as the final horn sounded.
The first half was marked by defensive play early, as neither team was able to get on the board until almost 14 minutes had passed. But then Davidson's Christin Raimondo converted a free-position shot to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
NU responded. In addition to shutting out Davidson over the remainder of the stanza, the Evanston 'Cats dropped in four goals to take a commanding lead into the break. Erin Flynn (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle) got the ball rolling with a free-position goal at the 15:26 mark, and then more than eight minutes passed before Albrecht netted her first with a free-position pill. McCann was involved in the other goals before halftime, scoring with 3:44 left and then feeding Angela McMahon (Weston, Mass./Weston) with 1:54 to play.
The second half picked up where the first left off. Marit Spekman (Charlottesville, Va./St Anne's-Belfield) converted a feed from Albrecht after 3:40, and just 36 seconds later Albrecht netted her second of the day on a pass from Jenna Gantner (Long Valley, N.J./Chester).
Then the clocks turned back.
Davidson quickly got one back, as Raimondo bounced home another free-position shot less than a minute after Albrecht's tally. Nearly five minutes would then pass before Sarah Otto notched her first of the game on a spectacular end-to-end effort.
Several minutes went by without any scoring after that goal, but then Davidson quickly made it a one-goal affair when Blair Otto -- Sarah's twin sister -- notched a pair of goals just 1:08 apart.
Northwestern won the ensuing draw control, though, and held the ball for several minutes before Davidson was forced to become more aggressive on defense. That opened up room for Albrecht, who found McCann in front of the goal and fed her for the easy score. In the end, that proved to be enough.
Ashley Gersuk (Loudonville, N.Y./Albany Academy) had six saves in the NU goal. In addition to her four points, Albrecht -- the reigning ALC Player of the Week -- added five caused turnovers and three ground balls in a stellar performance.
Northwestern continues play in State College Sunday, playing No. 15 Penn State in the first of three games against nationally ranked teams that conclude NU's season.
Score by Half
Northwestern 4 3 - 7
Davidson 1 5 - 6
Goals
Northwestern: Albrecht 2, McCann 2, E. Flynn, McMahon, Spekman.
Davidson: Raimondo 2, S. Otto 2, B. Otto 2.
Assists
Northwestern: Albrecht 2, McCann, Gantner.
Davidson: None.
Goalie Saves
Northwestern: Gersuk 6.
Davidson: Nussbaum 16.
Shots on Goal: Northwestern 16, Davidson 11.
Free Position: Northwestern 2/7, Davidson 3/6.
Ground Balls: Northwestern 22, Davidson 16.
Caused Turnovers: Northwestern 12, Davidson 10.
Draw Controls: Northwestern 8, Davidson 5.
Records
Northwestern 5-7 (2-2 American Lacrosse Conference)
Davidson 5-10 (0-4 ALC)
