Northwestern University Athletics
2003 Fall Recap
11/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Nov. 7, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's lacrosse team recently finished up fall action, and with the 2004 season on the horizon head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller is more upbeat than ever about the future success of her program.
"My goals were to build on the momentum we ended the 2003 season with, and I think we accomplished that," she said recently. "We have some new players who are helping us continue to raise the level of this team; it is exciting to see them meshing with our established veterans. We worked on becoming more dynamic offensively on attack and in the midfield."
With a team that is suddenly all grown up -- the roster boasts 15 upperclassmen, almost all of whom have seen significant action since they were freshmen -- Amonte Hiller has been impressed by the leadership.
"The biggest thing to me was seeing our upperclassmen really take the new players under their wings," she said. "This is still just a third-year program; our juniors came in as freshmen and did not have anyone above them to show them and tell them how to do things. Now they are stepping into the leadership roles and bringing the newcomers along, which is great to see."
The Wildcats compiled an 8-8 record last year -- just its second back as a varsity after a decade-long hiatus -- and that record was constructed without Sarah Albrecht, NU's leading scorer in 2001 (she missed the season with an injury but is back for 2003). Amonte Hiller sees a team that continues to be hungry for improvement, though.
"The women are making the steps to get their games to the next level," she said. "The attitude continues to be 'what can I do to get better?' and they are latching onto the things we as a coaching staff are giving them. It is gratifying as a coach to work with these women."
In addition to bringing along her team, Amonte Hiller also broke in a pair of new coaches -- both of whom were playing college ball just last year. However, she feels like the transition between new assistants Danielle Shearer and Alexis Venechanos and players went smoothly.
"I do not think it could have gone any better," said Amonte Hiller. "As a goalkeeper, Lex really took hold of the defense, and I think this is the best thing for our two goalies, Ashley Gersuk and Meredith Philipp. Now they have someone to talk to and get suggestions from, and that makes a difference.
"Danielle brings a lot to the table, because she knows where these players are coming from as a recent field player herself," Amonte Hiller continued. "Her intensity and the achievements she reached as a player provide a standard that our players can strive for.
"The dynamics with new staff members -- especially when they are so close in age to the players -- are always intricate," Amonte Hiller admitted. "However, I think they have handled it well."
NU began fallball with a round-robin event that featured Notre Dame and Ohio State, a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last year.
"As I said before, we did not give the women too much structure that weekend; we just let them go out and play,' said Amonte Hiller. "It was exciting, though, because those two teams are going to be formidable opponents nationally this year, and it was good to have them right off the bat."
Next was a trip to Maryland and a meeting the always-powerful Terrapins.
"That was very exciting, and we played under the lights which added to the atmosphere," said Amonte Hiller, a Maryland grad (along with Venechanos). "Our women had to adjust to the pace of play, but by the second half we showed that we could play at that level.
"One of the most exciting things to me was that we were beating them to ground balls and doing the little things. Games like this are part of our improvement -- it was a stepping stone, but by no means the final step."
The 'Cats concluded the fall at George Mason's tournament in Fairfax, Va.
"We tried to get some different looks that weekend," said Amonte Hiller. "We put different people in different places. I was happy with the experience we gained that weekend; we grew a lot. Just to have that experience heading into the season is a positive."
The Wildcats open the 2004 season with a conference game (Davidson) and a game against a national power (Duke) -- both on the road. It kicks off a campaign that sees NU playing an increasingly rugged schedule, but Amonte Hiller is anxious for the challenge.
"I look at these women and get so excited about the personalities we have on this team," she said. "This season is all about coming together as a unit, doing our best, and enjoying the time that we spend together. If we focus on these small things, great things could happen for this team."
