Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Knock Off No. 15 Ohio State, 9-6
3/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 7, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The 20th-ranked Northwestern women's lacrosse team used a fast start and a standout defensive effort to defeat the defending American Lacrosse Conference champions, Ohio State, Sunday afternoon 9-6.
The win was the first for NU (3-1, 2-0 ALC) against the 15th-ranked Buckeyes (1-2, 0-1 ALC) since it returned to varsity status in 2002; the previous two years, OSU had rolled to easy wins. Entering this season, Ohio State was picked by the league coaches to successfully retain its title at the end of the season and was also No. 9 in the preseason national poll.
"This is a huge win for us, because we have struggled against them the last two years," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "To beat a ranked team that is in our conference makes it that much sweeter. We have now finished the first stretch of our season with three wins, and that makes me very happy. We will go into exams on a high note, and come back strong in a few weeks."
Northwestern has gotten out of the gates quickly this season, and Sunday was no exception. The Wildcats used "tremendous" defense to score all of the game's six first-half goals. At the offensive end, Sarah Albrecht and Laura Glassanos led the charge with two goals apiece, but Amonte Hiller pointed to the defense when talking about the first half.
"We marked Emily Lovett directly on Ohio State's Regina Oliver, and she did an unbelievable job keeping the ball from her,' said Amonte Hiller, noting Oliver was last year's ALC Player of the Year as a sophomore. "We did a great job on the ground balls and draw controls, and showed a lot of composure on our breakouts."
As expected, OSU made its charge after the break, scoring just 37 seconds into the stanza. However, NU settled down and held the Bucks from adding to their total for nearly eight minutes, then getting goals from freshmen Lindsay Finocchiaro and Kristen Kjellman to push the lead back up to six (8-2) with less than 20 minutes to play.
Ohio State cut into the lead with Oliver fired home a free-position shot with 17:19 left, but NU again made the lead six when Albrecht netted her third of the day.
Ohio State could only cut one goal off of the Wildcats' lead before the 10-minute mark, and then scored twice in the final 10 minutes but it was a case of too little, too late.
In the NU goal, Ashley Gersuk had 12 saves, and Amonte Hiller noted her play in the cage as well as out of it. However, Amonte Hiller credited the entire defense for Sunday's success.
"Ashley was unbelievable in the goal, but she also did a great job setting up our clears -- I don't think she had a turnover," said Amonte Hiller. "And our defense did well in making sure the only opportunities Ohio State got were low-angle shots."
Northwestern's game with Colgate will be the home opener for the Wildcats, and it will come two Saturdays from now (Mar. 20) at 1 p.m. at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.
GAME SUMMARY
Score by Half
Northwestern (3-1, 2-0 ALC) 6 3 - 9
Ohio State (1-2, 0-1 ALC) 0 6 - 6
Goals
Northwestern: Albrecht 3, Glassanos 2, Kjellman 2, Finocchiaro, McCann.
Ohio State: Williams, Tulk, Oliver, Evans, Sands, Miller.
Assists
Northwestern: Albrecht, Alley, Finocchiaro, Glassanos.
Ohio State: None.
Goalie Saves
NU - Gersuk 12; OSU - Hastings 3 (30:00), Bowen 1 (30:00).
Shots: Ohio State 19, NU 17
Free-Position Goals/Att.: NU 2/6, Ohio State 2/6
Ground Balls: Ohio State 22, NU 7
Draw Controls: NU 11, Ohio State 6
Caused Turnovers: Ohio State 9, NU 8
Fouls: NU 20, Ohio State 19
