Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Hit Mile High City For Two Games
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 24, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - When Northwestern takes the field against Oregon Saturday afternoon in a neutral-site game at the University of Denver, the Wildcat seniors will be able to tell the Duck players, "I know exactly how you feel."
Oregon is a first-year program this year -- a similar situation to what the NU seniors went through in 2002 as freshmen. However, the Wildcats have given the Ducks a nice blueprint for what can happen -- and how quickly it can happen.
Northwestern -- in just its fourth season back as a varsity program -- is ranked third this week, and goes to Denver to meet the Ducks (Saturday at 1 p.m. Central) and the host Pioneers (Sunday at 1 p.m. Central) this weekend coming off a nice, 6-5 win over No. 6 North Carolina last Sunday.
"UNC is always a very strong team, so for us to go down there and get the win like we did was great," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "What made me happiest, though, was the way we came back from a deficit to get the win.
"What also made me happy was that afterward, the players were not satisfied with the way they played," she continued. "They knew they could have played better, so they were hungry to get back on the field and work."
Playing a pair of unranked teams would seem to present a nice respite after last week's big opener, but Amonte Hiller refuses to fall into that trap.
"I go back to our first year when I look at Oregon, and I remember that we surprised some people when we played them tough," she said. "Their coach, Jen Larsen, has done a great job recruiting, and they will be fired up to play us. I remember how fired up our women got every time we played a ranked team that year, and I know they will be that way for us.
"Denver was pretty young last year when we played them (a 16-4 NU win in Evanston), but I have a tremendous amount of respect for their coaching staff, and I know they will be gunning for us," Amonte Hiller said of Sunday's opponent, which is hosting this weekend's round-robin action. "That is part of the challenge of being ranked as high as we are. You have to expect to take every team's best shot."
Amonte Hiller wants her team to focus not so much on what to expect from its opponent, but rather get cohesion itself.
"We need to find a rhythm," she said. "At UNC last weekend, the women played hard, but it was not necessarily a cohesive effort. Certain players stepped up when they had to, but I would like to see us get more in sync."
"We know the things we have to work on from last weekend, and we have spent the week practicing them."
Some notes as the Wildcats head to the Mile High City...
* NU is playing Oregon for the first time in women's lacrosse, and leads the series with Denver 1-0 after last year's 16-4 win in Evanston.
* NU is hoping to go 2-0 and 3-0 for the second time in the four years since it returned to varsity status in 2002; the other time came in 2003, when the 'Cats started 5-0.
* Sunday's game will pit two former teammates against each other as coaches; Kelly Amonte Hiller and Denver mentor Cathy Nelson Reese played together at Maryland for two years (1995, 1996), winning national championships both seasons.
* Senior defender Courtney Koester, a preseason All-America and All-ALC selection, was the Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week for her efforts vs. North Carolina.
* Lindsey Munday, a second-team All-ALC pick a year ago, scored two goals and had two assists in last week's win over North Carolina. Her second goal proved to be the game-winner, breaking a 5-5 tie with 2:24 to play.
* Sophomore Kristen Kjellman, a preseason All-America and ALC Player of the Year selection, had two goals vs. the Tar Heels.
* Laura Glassanos, a second-team regional All-America in 2004, had a goal and an assist vs. UNC.
* NU's second-half shutout of the Tar Heels was the sixth time the Wildcats shut out an opponent for an entire half since the program regained varsity status. They did it twice in 2002 (Marist, New Hampshire) and three times last year (Ohio State, Connecticut, Denver).
