Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Open 2005 Campaign With UNC
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 18, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - In 2004, the Northwestern women's lacrosse team -- in just its third season back as a varsity program -- went 15-3 overall, won a share of the American Lacrosse Conference title, and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament where the Wildcats lost to eventual national champion Virginia.
With all but one player back for 2005, a suddenly veteran NU squad is getting noticed. As an example, two preseason polls have the `Cats ranked third behind the two NCAA finalists from a year ago, Virginia and Princeton.
Of course, none of that matters when the team takes the field Sunday for its season opener. But could the seniors -- the pioneers of this program -- have ever envisioned they would start their final campaign against traditional power North Carolina as a favorite?
The Tar Heels are established as a power, playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and with plenty of postseason accolades. However, they enter Sunday's 1 p.m. (noon Central) game ranked behind the upstart Wildcats -- UNC is ranked sixh in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll and seventh by Lacrosse Magazine.
"We are really excited to get going," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "The women are ready to play against outside competition after going against each other for nearly two months now. UNC will provide a great challenge for us to start. They are a great program, they have tremendous athletes and Jenny Levy is a great coach. It should be a highly competitive game, and a great way for us to start."
Despite the success of a year ago, and the preseason forecasters, Amonte Hiller does not feel like the dynamics have changed for her program.
"Our focus has always been the same and will always remain the same," she said. "The only difference is that now people are talking about us -- something I feel is good for our program. However, it is up to us to play well and continue to give them reason to talk about us."
Amonte Hiller has been happy with the play of her team in the preseason -- apparently, last year's success has not done anything but made her team hungrier.
"The work ethic has always been there," she said. "This year the leadership has been tremendous, especially from the seniors. I am also really pleased with how the younger players are stepping up.
"When it comes to the seniors, I do not think there is necessarily a sense of urgency, but they are definitely savoring each day and realizing this is the last time around for them," Amonte Hiller continued. "When you are in your final season, you do not want it to end, you appreciate things that much more."
Some notes as the Wildcats hit the road to start the 2005 season...
• NU returns all but one player from last year's team that won a share of the ALC title and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round -- as a third-year varsity program.
• NU returns its top seven scorers from a year ago, and all of them have at least two years of eligibility remaining heading into 2005.
• NU returns 96.2 percent of its goalscoring (all but nine) and 96.4 of its points (all but 12) from a year ago.
• NU has two women named to the Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List -- senior defender Courtney Koester and sophomore middie Kristen Kjellman.
• Koester and Kjellman also are preseason first-team All-America selections by Inside Lacrosse, while Ashley Koester is second-team All-America, and Ashley Gersuk and Lindsey Munday are third-team All-America.
• NU had eight players who were freshmen or sophomore-eligible last year start at least 13 games.
• NU set school records in 2004 for wins (15), goals (238) and points (335), and also established a new mark with a 13-game win streak.
• NU finished sixth in the IWLCA national poll, the highest any ALC team has ever been and the best by a Wildcat program since 1989.
• NU placed fifth nationally in both team offense and team defense in 2004; every defensive starter returns, as do all but one starter at attack.
• Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was ALC Coach of the Year, National Coach of theYear by both Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com, and IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.
• Sophomore middie Kristen Kjellman was 2004 ALC Rookie of the Year, as well as National Rookie of the Year by both Inside Lacrosse and womenslacrosse.com.
• Kjellman and senior defender Courtney Koester were second-team IWLCA All-America selections.
• After two years without having a player earn IWLCA regional honors, NU had six named in 2004 -- Kjellman and Koester were first-team selections, while senior goalkeeper Ashley Gersuk, senior defender Ashley Koester, and junior middies Laura Glassanos and Lindsey Munday received second-team recognition.
• Six women -- Kjellman, Courtney and Ashley Koester, Gersuk, Munday and senior attack Sarah Albrecht -- received All-ALC honors in 2004; Glassanos was a 2003 All-ALC recipient; and senior defender Kate Darmody was a 2002 honoree.
• Gersuk has played nearly 3,000 minutes in goal and needs just 31 saves to become the school's all-time leader.
• The Koesters are fifth-year seniors playing their fourth year of organized lacrosse -- in fact, their fourth year of any lacrosse.
