Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Head to 'Rival' Notre Dame
4/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 25, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the 2003 lacrosse season quickly closing down, the Northwestern women's lacrosse team is back on the road.
After playing four of their last five games at friendly Lakeside Field, the Wildcats are back on the bus for the final three games of the season. That stretch begins Saturday, when the 'Cats travel to South Bend for a meeting with No. 18 Notre Dame.
With a 7-6 overall record, NU would have to be considered a long shot to reach the 16-team NCAA Tournament this season. However, a win Saturday over a ranked team would go a long way toward getting the 'Cats back into the national polls themselves -- a highly respectable finish for the second-year program.
"The focus this week has been on executing and playing together," said head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "We have been working with the women on bringing up the intensity that they showed in the Davidson game on Monday (a 14-4 win). We have been able to focus at times in our most recent games, but seldom has it been for an entire game. We have talked about bringing up the intensity at all times."
The offense has been forced to grow up this season with the absence of last year's leading scorer, Sarah Albrecht. In recent games two freshmen have really stepped up -- Lindsey Munday has scored nine goals in the last three games (and 13 in the last five contests), while Laura Glassanos matched Munday in the Davidson win with four goals and two assists.
"I think those two have gained so much confidence in recent games and they are doing nice things offensively," said Amonte Hiller, who also singled out Donna McCann for her play recently. "I feel like we have really established some stability at that end of the field, especially with Lindsey and Laura playing at that level.
"We have reached the point of the season where they are not freshmen anymore," Amonte Hiller said. "They have played almost an entire season now."
While Amonte Hiller acknowledges that playing three road games to complete the season is not an ideal way for her young team to finish the season, she is not concerned about their ability to get up for Saturday's contest.
"With our proximity to each other, I think it's a natural to consider this our 'rival' game," she said about the Irish. "We'll only be on a bus for a few hours, where most times we'll take a plane to get to our games. They are close enough that it almost feels like a home game. Plus I think we do well on the road -- the women can be more focused on the task at hand.
"We are definitely excited to play on Saturday."
