Northwestern
Virginia Tech
Wildcats Eke By Virginia Tech, 12-11
3/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 28, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - For Northwestern's women's lacrosset team, Sunday's game with Virginia Tech was nearly a case of deja vu all over again.
Wednesday night, the 13th-ranked Wildcats were down by two goals late against Delaware, but answered the call en route to an eventual overtime victory. Sunday afternoon, the 'Cats were down 11-9 to the unranked Hokies -- but at least this time they gave themselves a little more time to erase the deficit (seven minutes, as opposed to less than three against Delaware).
Mission (once again) accomplished. Thanks to a spectacular performance by precocious freshman Kristen Kjellman down the stretch, NU emerged victorious, 12-11.
Kjellman scored six goals on the day, a high for this season among NU players. More startling, however, was that five of them came in the game's final 14 minutes -- and were all the goals the 'Cats scored in that time. Four of the goals were unassisted efforts, with only the winner coming off a feed (from Lindsey Munday) with 1:12 remaining to break an 11-11 deadlock.
"When I was recruiting Kristen I knew all about her skills and her abilities," said head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "But beyond that she has that intangible, the will to win. We have been waiting for that great performance to arrive, and fortunately it did today -- and just in time."
Kjellman's final goal capped an exciting contest, one in which neither team held more than a two-goal lead. Virginia Tech looked like it was in command with goals from Stephanie Jones (her sixth of the day) and Kate Threadgold (her third) exactly one minute apart, taking an 11-9 lead with 7:16 left. Kjellman cut the deficit in half with 6:38 to play on a free-position goal, then scord an unassisted effort with 3:07 to play that knotted the game at 11.
"Virginia Tech is a good team, and so I was concerned when we fell behind," said Amonte Hiller. "Falling behind in the final 10 minutes is definitely not a habit I want our team to get into."
A back-and-forth first half ended, appropriately enough, in a 5-5 tie. In the second half, freshman Lindsay Finocchiaro sandwiched her second and third goals around tallies from Tech's Britt Faulkner and Jones, before Jones netted her fourth and fifth of the day less than a minute apart to give the Hokies a 9-7 lead. Kjellman matched her counterpart, though, scoring goals 45 seconds apart to again tie the game at 9-9.
Munday finished the game with a goal and two assists, while Laura Glassanos had two goals.
NU is off all this week, before travelling to Connecticut for a meeting with the Huskies. That game will face off in Storrs, Conn. at noon EST (11 a.m. CST).
GAME SUMMARY
Score by Half
Virginia Tech (3-4) 5 6 -- 11
Northwestern (6-1) 5 7 -- 12
Goals
Northwestern: Kjellman 6, Finocchiaro 3, Glassanos 2, Munday.
Virginia Tech: Jones 6, Threadgold 3, Fay, Faulkner.
Assists
Northwestern: Munday 2.
Virginia Tech: Threadgold 3, Jones 2.
Goalie Saves
NU - Gersuk 3; VT - McGraw 13.
Shots: NU 26, Virginia Tech 20
Free-Position Goals/Att.: NU 2/5, Virginia Tech 1/2
Ground Balls: NU 22, Virginia Tech 20
Draw Controls: NU 13, Virginia Tech 12
Caused Turnovers: NU 7, Virginia Tech 7
Fouls: Virginia Tech 22, NU 13
