Northwestern
Notre Dame
Wildcats Knock Off Notre Dame, 9-5
4/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 20, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern women's lacrosse team proved to be the more adaptable team Tuesday afternoon, and as a result the 11th-ranked Wildcats pulled off the upset of No. 6 Notre Dame at the Thomas Athletic Complex.
Playing in absolutely miserable conditions, the `Cats won for the 10th straight game -- they are now tied with Maryland for the second-longest winning streak in the nation -- and improved to 11-1 on the season. The 11 wins matches the school record set in 1983, during NU's previous era of women's lacrosse. This season is just the third since the program was restored to varsity status after it dropped to club in 1992.
"I felt like we were prepared for a different type of game," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "At times it was definitely sloppy out there on both sides, but we changed modes and were able to adjust.
"I felt like we were the tougher team out there today," she said. "We seemed to come up with every ground ball and draw control. We were able to get up on them and never let them back into it."
Both teams were slow out of the gate, likely due to the weather. It took nearly 14 minutes for either team to get on the board, but Notre Dame (10-2) drew first blood when Jackie Bowers converted a feed from Meredith Simon. NU tied it up four minutes later when Sarah Albrecht knocked home an unassisted goal, then took the lead on Jenny Bush's goal at the 22:09 mark. Notre Dame tied it at 2-2 with 3:18 left in the half, but freshman Kristen Kjellman gave the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish with a free-position goal near the end of the half.
Kjellman doubled NU's lead just 12 seconds into the second half, and then Northwestern gradually pulled away. Albrecht hit a free-position goal eight minutes in, then Bush notched her second in the 12th minute. When Kjellman scored unassisted two minutes later, it was suddenly 7-2 for the `Cats.
"The quick goal may have set the tone a little bit," said Amonte Hiller. "We wanted to make sure we did not allow Notre Dame to come out well, and that goal went a long way toward that goal."
Notre Dame answered back with a goal by Abby Owen, but Northwestern again set the pace and scored twice more over the next nine minutes (Aly Josephs from Bush, and Kjellman unassisted). The Irish scored twice in the final minute, but it was too little, too late.
Afterward, Amonte Hiller could not say enough about her team's defense. Northwestern has allowed five or fewer goals in four of the last five games.
"Ashley Gersuk (10 saves) had a great game in goal, and the rest of the players in front of her were tremendous," she said. "We seemed to have a ton of caused turnovers, and we were just flying around out there. It was exciting to see."
Northwestern is off until Sunday afternoon, when they take on American Lacrosse Conference foe Johns Hopkins at noon at the Thomas Athletic Complex. That game will pit the two remaining unbeaten teams in the ALC -- Hopkins is 4-0, while NU is 3-0.
GAME SUMMARY
Score by Half
Notre Dame (10-2) 2 3 -- 5
Northwestern (11-1) 3 6 -- 9
Goals
Northwestern: Kjellman 4, Albrecht 2, Bush 2, Josephs.
Notre Dame: Bowers, McGrath, Simon, Owen, Foote.
Assists
Northwestern: Bush.
Notre Dame: Simon, McGrath, Fischer.
Goalie Saves
NU - Gersuk 10; ND - Dixon 7 (56:32), Linhares 1 (3:28).
Shots: NU 26, Notre Dame 18
Free Position Goals/Att.: NU 2/6, Notre Dame 1/2
Ground Balls: Notre Dame 32, NU 21
Caused Turnovers: NU 16, Notre Dame 14
Draw Controls: NU 10, Notre Dame 6
