Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Hit Road As No. 1 Team
3/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
March 22, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - If the Northwestern women's lacrosse team needed anything to take them down from the high of being ranked No. 1 for the first time in the program's history, perhaps it was a quick look at the national scoreboard Tuesday.
The one that read Temple 6, Penn State 5.
Penn State, you see, entered its game with the Owls ranked second in the polls, behind the Wildcats. The Nittany Lions also boasted two wins this season against teams that were ranked No. 1 at the time of their meeting -- Virginia (March 11) and Princeton (Saturday).
Those facts meant nothing in Happy Valley Tuesday, though, as an unranked Temple team came in and snatched a victory away.
Will history repeat itself Thursday afternoon, when Northwestern hits the road to take on unranked New Hampshire (3-2) in its first performance since the polls came out? NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, obviously, hopes not.
To that end, she plans not to make a big deal of the ranking.
"Does the fact that we are ranked No. 1 change anything? Absolutely not," she said. "The ranking is nice because it shows you are getting recognition for what you have accomplished so far, but our focus has always been on what we can do to improve ourselves and what we need to do to keep getting better as individuals and as a team. That will remain our focus."
Amonte Hiller is not naive, however, and knows that the title of No. 1 brings some added weight.
"I expect New Hampshire to come out and be a feisty, physical, athletic team," she said. "We are familiar with a lot of their players because they recruit a lot in New England, like we do, and I really like and respect their coaching staff. They played No. 5 North Carolina pretty tough last week, and I expect them to bring their `A' game Thursday -- they have won two in a row at home, they are at home again, and they are playing the No. 1 team. We have to expect them to be up for us."
Amonte Hiller expects her team to come out with some extra pop, too. A native New Englander herself, she has recruited a number of players from her home state of Massachusetts, and Thursday's game represents a short drive for their families and friends. In fact, Thursday's game represents NU's only appearance in the New England/New York area for the entire 2005 season.
"As a coach, you want to get to the areas where your players are from so that their families and friends can get out to see them," she said. "With this being spring break here on campus, this is a nice chance for us to get the players home for a few days to enjoy time with their families."
Some notes as the Wildcats take spring break in New Hampshire...
* NU and New Hampshire -- both nicknamed Wildcats -- are meeting for the 11th time in women's lacrosse, but just the second time in the modern era (since 2002); UNH came back from a 6-1 deficit to down the Northwestern, 7-6, in 2002.
* NU enters the week ranked No. 1 in the IWLCA national poll, a first for the program; in fact, the Wildcats are the first team outside of the Eastern Time Zone to earn the top spot, and they are the first American Lacrosse Conference team to hold the No. 1 ranking.
* NU's 7-0 start is the best in the modern era of lacrosse at NU (since 2002); in the previous era (1982-92), only the 1983 team (10-0) can claim a better start.
* NU has more wins that any other program in the nation, and is one of just eight unbeaten teams (out of 82 NCAA Division I programs) entering the week.
* NU leads the nation with an average of 16.0 goals per game; The 'Cats are averaging 17.6 goals per game in the last six games, and has had at least seven goalscorers in every game during that run.
* NU also leads the nation in draw controls (16.3 per game) and is fourth nationally in caused turnovers (14.9 per game).
* NU is fifth in the nation in goals allowed per game, at 6.0.
* NU has not trailed at any point during the last six games, since its comeback win over North Carolina in the season opener.
* NU has four players with 10 or more goals already this season -- juniors Laura Glassanos (18) and Lindsey Munday (16), and sophomores Aly Josephs (16) and Kristen Kjellman (14). Senior Sarah Albrecht has nine goals.
* Glassanos is the only NU player to score in every game this season; last year, she scored in all but one game.
* Munday also has 18 assists already this season, which already places her seventh on NU's single-season list; she has recorded four assists in each of the Wildcats' last two wins.
* All-America defender Courtney Koester had seven draw controls vs. Penn last weekend, giving her 35 this season in six games; twin sister Ashley Koester is second on the team with 18. The Koesters also go 1-2 on the team in caused turnovers (Ashley 17, Courtney 13).
* Fellow defender Lindsay Finocchiaro is second on the team with 14 ground balls (behind Ashley Koester's 20) and third with 12 caused turnovers.
NU individuals in the national stats:
Assists per game: Lindsey Munday, 2nd (2.57)
Points per game: Lindsey Munday, 5th (4.86)
Draw per game: Courtney Koester, 2nd (5.00)
Caused Turnovers per game: Ashley Koester, 17th (2.43)
Goals Against Average: Ashley Gersuk, 4th (6.00)
