Northwestern
Delaware
No. 13 Wildcats Pull Off a Stunner, 9-8
3/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 24, 2004
NU-Delaware Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NEWARK, Del. - Judging from the copies lying around on the bus, and the conversations among teammates, a popular book among the Northwestern women's lacrosse players during this abbreviated spring break trip to Delaware is Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code."
Wednesday night, the 13th-ranked Wildcats engaged in a struggle with the University of Delaware that would have made the best-selling author proud with its numerous twists and turns, to say nothing of the drama it brought.
In the end, though, NU sophomore Lindsey Munday punctuated a superb evening -- she had three goals and two assists -- with an individual effort to score in sudden-victory overtime and propel the 'Cats to the 9-8 win.
NU improved to 5-1 with the victory, while the Blue Hens fell to 2-4.
"I think our players understand they did not come out as hard as they should have," said a relieved Kelly Amonte Hiller after the game. "The level at which they played in the final minutes of this game is probably where they should have been right from the start."
Last Saturday, NU needed two late goals to break a tie game with unranked Colgate at home. Wednesday night, the 'Cats needed two goals in the final two minutes of regulation just to draw level with the Blue Hens, and then another late in the second overtime to again knot the score up.
"We are the hunted now," said Amonte Hiller. "Teams want to knock off the No. 13 team in the country, especially unranked teams like Delaware -- we have become a big game on the schedules of our opponents. We need to be ready to face other teams' best efforts.
"It represents a shift in our program, and our players have to learn how to handle being in this position. But I was very pleased with how we bounced back when we needed to. We will use this win as a steppingstone."
Northwestern drew first blood in the game when Kim Corcoran converted a free-position shot in the seventh minute. Delaware scored the next two goals, both by Michelle Campolettano, but NU recovered with goals by Laura Glassanos and Annie Elliott (off a Munday feed) to take a 3-2 lead into the break.
Delaware roared out of the gate to start the second half, scoring three goals before seven minutes had passed. The 5-3 Blue Hen lead held for nearly nine minutes, as NU struggled to best Delaware keeper Patrice Hughes. Munday finally solved the riddle with 14:33 left, but another 11 minutes passed before a goal was scored -- and when it was, it was for the Blue Hens, giving them a 6-4 lead with 3:43 left in regulation.
At that point, Amonte Hiller called timeout, and she should bottle whatever she said in that huddle. Coming out of the respite, the Wildcats drew level when Kristen Kjellman and then Munday scored on individual efforts just 23 seconds apart. The 'Cats then took the lead early in the first of the two regulation overtimes when Sarah Albrecht converted a Munday feed.
Delaware did not respond until the second three-minute extra session, but when the Hens did they did it twice, on goals from Campolettano and Kristin Cellucci. Once again, NU had the late answer -- Kjellman won the ensuing draw, induced a foul deep in the defensive zone, and then converted her free-position shot. That set the stage for sudden-victory overtime and Munday's curtain-closer.
Both goalkeepers had great games to keep their teams in it; both Hughes and Northwestern's Ashley Gersuk made 10 stops.
NU is back in action Sunday, hosting Virginia Tech at noon at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.
GAME SUMMARY
Score by Half
Northwestern (5-1) 3 3 1 1 1 - 9
Delaware (2-4) 2 4 0 2 0 - 8
Goals
NU: Munday 3, Kjellman 2, Corcoran, Glassanos, Elliott, Albrecht.
Delaware: Campolettano 3, Diana 2, Zane, Cellucci, Edell.
Assists
NU: Munday 2.
Delaware: Rausa 2, Campolettano, Kron.
GK Saves
NU - Gersuk 10; DEL - Hughes 10.
Shots: NU 28, Delaware 23
Free-Position Goals/Att.: NU 2/8, Delaware 0/1
Ground Balls: NU 19, Delaware 14
Caused Turnovers: Delaware 10, NU 8
Draw Controls: NU 12, Delaware 10
Fouls: Delaware 25, NU 19
