Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Top ALC Preseason Poll
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 18, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern University, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2004, has been selected to finish atop the conference by a vote of the league's head coaches. The Wildcats edge out Johns Hopkins, who earned the school's first-ever bid to the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament last year.
The coaches also named Northwestern's Kristen Kjellman and Johns Hopkins' Mary Key to share the Preseason Player of the Year honors. Kjellman and Key finished 1-2 in the voting for Conference Rookie of the Year honors in 2004.
The Wildcats finished second in the conference in 2004 with a 5-1 record and advanced to the second round in the NCAA tournament. The Blue Jays earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in 2004, their first since moving to the Division I level. Vanderbilt, which advanced to their first NCAA semifinal in school history in 2004, tied with Penn State for third in the voting.
Kjellman and Key were two of the most prominent rookies in the nation in 2004, and they shared the National Rookie of the Year and second team All-American honors from womenslacrosse.com while Kjellman was tabbed as the National Rookie of the Year by insidelacrosse.com and earned second-team All-American honors from the IWLCA..
Kjellman is joined on the preseason team by teammates Ashley Koester and Courtney Koester. Courtney and Kjellman were both members of the ALC First Team in 2004. Key's teammate Lacey-Leigh Hentz is also a preseason selection, and both Key and Hentz were named to the First Team All-Conference in 2004.
The Penn State Nittany Lions had three selections to the preseason team, including IWLCA National Goalie of the Year Lee Tortorelli, the reigning ALC Goalie of the Year. Lori Havrilla, who was on the ALC First Team in 2004, and Kristen Burke, a second-team honoree from 2004, were also named to the squad.
Ohio State's Buckeyes' Regina Oliver, who was the ALC Player of the Year in 2003 and Rookie of the Year in 2002 before earning ALC First Team honors last year, was also named to the team. Ohio's Dana Dobbie, who earned ALC First Team honors in 2004, was selected to the 2005 Preseason Team. Rounding out the team are Vanderbilt's Kate Hickman and Davidson's Lindsay Frank.
The American Lacrosse Conference is a lacrosse-only conference and will send its regular season champion to the 2005 NCAA tournament by virtue of an automatic qualifying berth.
ALC Prediction of Finish
1. Northwestern, 47 voting points (5 first-place votes)
2. Johns Hopkins, 42 (2)
3. Penn State, 31
3. Vanderbilt, 31
5. Ohio, 19
6. Ohio State, 18
7. Davidson, 8
ALC Preseason Team
Kristen Burke, Penn State
Dana Dobbie, Ohio
Lindsay Frank, Davidson
Lori Havrilla, Penn State
Lacey-Leigh Hentz, Johns Hopkins
Kate Hickman, Vanderbilt
Mary Key, Johns Hopkins
Kristen Kjellman, Northwestern
Ashley Koester, Northwestern
Courtney Koester, Northwestern
Regina Oliver, Ohio State
Lee Tortorelli, Penn State
