Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Virginia (NCAA Final)
NATIONAL CHAMPS! Wildcats Beat Virginia, 13-10
5/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 22, 2005
Video
Audio
NU-Virginia Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- At what point does it -- or did it -- kick in?
Did it kick in while the final seconds ticked away, as Kristen Kjellman flung the ball high into the air and jumped into the outstretched arms of Ashley Koester, the final play in this final game?
Did it kick in during the awards presentation, as the Northwestern women's lacrosse players were given their NCAA gifts -- including the NCAA championship trophy?
Did it kick in at the tailgate afterward, as the Wildcat players celebrated with their families and friends? Did it kick in during the bus ride back to the hotel after that, a five-minute joyride filled with chanting and singing and yelling?
Or maybe it hasn't even kicked in yet. Maybe it will not happen until the NU players wake up early Monday morning (assuming they go to bed) and realize their new status in a new lacrosse world. Maybe it will not happen until they drive down Sheridan Road later that day and return to a Northwestern campus and a city they have galvanized with their efforts these last few months. Maybe it will extend beyond that before it finally kicks in.
But it will happen. It will kick in. Simply put, the historical context of Sunday afternoon will be talked about in lacrosse circles for years to come.
Sunday, you see, was the day the sport of lacrosse officially crossed over and lost its status as an East Coast niche sport. Sunday was the day Northwestern -- that Big Ten/American Lacrosse Conference school just outside of Chicago -- became the first team from outside the Eastern Time Zone to win an NCAA national lacrosse championship at any level. The Wildcats punctuated a perfect 21-0 season with a 13-10 win over defending champion Virginia; in the process, they avenged a loss to the last team that beat them (the Cavs downed NU a year ago in an NCAA quarterfinal).
"Obviously, we are very excited," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, the architect who has built a program from club status in 2001 to NCAA champion in 2005 (just the second NCAA team title in Northwestern history, by the way, after men's fencing way back in 1941). "I have no words for this team -- they are such an amazing group of women, and for me it is so special to be a part of this team. The reason why we are here today is because our women are such good people and they are so coachable. They have worked hard to get here and earn this honor, and they deserve this."
Northwestern certainly deserved it. While pundits and critics kept waiting for the slipper to fall off this Cinderella story, the Wildcats kept knocking off the sport's traditional powers -- Princeton a week ago, Dartmouth Friday night, and Virginia (17-5) today. During the regular season, the 'Cats beat Duke, the other semifinalist in this year's NCAA tournament. NU has won 21 games in a row, the fourth-longest streak in NCAA women's lacrosse history, and at 21-0 tied three different Maryland squads (1997, 1999, 2000) for the second-most victories recorded in a single season.
"I think we all knew we could win a championship," said Kjellman, who was the Tournament MVP after scoring five first-half goals Sunday. "We were so confident this year going into every game, and especially this tournament. We had faith in all of our teammates; I think it carried us through this season."
"To go along with that, we trust our coaches so much and we believe in them and they believe in us," said Ashley Koester, whose own improbable journey to this day (along with her twin sister Courtney) has been well-documented. "We believe in each other and trust each other. In the beginning there were a lot of doubters, but to be honest with you we didn't listen to those people and just trusted in each other as teammates. We believed we could make it this far and win the national championship."
Northwestern has been noted for its athleticism, and that was on display Sunday as the Wildcats were able to turn a 7-6 deficit around with a 7-1 run that spanned the two halves.
Virginia got things started just 1:26 into the contest, when Cary Chasney scored the first of her game-high six goals off an assist from 2004 Tewaaraton Trophy winner Amy Appelt, but Kjellman evened things just two minutes later when she made a nice move up top and finished an unassisted effort. Kjellman then gave NU a 2-1 lead when she cut across the goalmouth and finished a feed from Lindsey Munday.
Chasney knotted things at 2-2 with a free-position goal, but Munday fed Kjellman to put the 'Cats back on top. Appelt again leveled the game with a nice spin move from behind, and then Tyler Leachman dunked a free-position shot to give the Cavaliers a 4-3 lead.
The teams found a pattern at that point, trading goals for the next 14 minutes. Kjellman finished an Aly Josephs feed, only to have it answered by Kate Breslin, and then scored her fifth goal in a row which was equaled by Chasney. Josephs then got in the act for Northwestern, finishing an Annie Elliott feed, but Chasney was again up to the task, scoring her fourth goal of the game to make the score 7-6 in UVA's favor with 3:17 left in the half.
Northwestern has made a habit of getting on rolls this season, though -- in fact, it has defined them. Sunday was no different, as the goals came from some usual suspects and one unexpected source.
Sarah Albrecht, who had scored seven goals in the last two games, scored an unassisted goal just 14 seconds after Chasney's goal to tie things at 7-7, and then Kristen Boege -- who had all of seven goals entering the NCAA final -- took a feed from Josephs and bounced a shot that hit the ground hard and dented the netting high in the goal to give NU its first lead since 3-2. That lead held up into the break, after a goal scored by the Cavaliers was ruled to be in the goal too late.
In the second half, Albrecht again rose to the occasion. The senior -- who led NU in scoring during its first year as a varsity, in 2002 -- scored just 1:40 in off a feed from Ashley Koester, then connected on a free-position shot five minutes later to make the score 10-7. Five minutes after that, it was Boege again, as she drove through the Cavalier defense and fired a shot past UVA goalie Kendall McBrearty.
Virginia temporarily stopped the bleeding when Chasney netted her fifth of the day, but Northwestern's Munday converted a free-position shot with 12:05 left to make the lead four again, and then the 'Cats controlled the ensuing draw and ran almost seven minutes off the clock before Josephs netted her second of the day with 5:53 to play that made the score 13-8.
Virginia still had some fight left, as Leachman scored an unassisted goal with 1:44 left and Chasney netted a feed from Appelt just 17 seconds later. But NU was able to control the ball and clock after that, with a little help from senior goalie Ashley Gersuk who came up with the last of her eight saves down the stretch.
After that, all that was left was to soak up the moments and, to quote a theme the team has used all season, "just bee."
In addition to Kjellman earning Tournament MVP honors, the Wildcats placed four women on the all-tournament team -- Albrecht, Munday, and the Koester sisters.
(1) NORTHWESTERN 13, (6) VIRGINIA 10
NCAA Championship Final
Score by Half
(6) Virginia (17-5) 7 3 - 10
(1) Northwestern (21-0) 8 5 - 13
Goals
NU: Kjellman 5, Albrecht 3, Josephs 2, Boege 2, Munday.
UVA: Chasney 6, Leachman 2, Appelt, Breslin.
Assists
NU: Munday 3, Josephs 2, Elliott, Finch, A. Koester.
UVA: Appelt 2, Breslin, Lazarus, Leachman.
Goalkeeper Saves
NU: Gersuk 8
UVA: Miles 1 (36:06), McBrearty 1 (23:54)
Shots: Virginia 23, NU 21
Free-Position Goals/Attempts: Virginia 2/7, NU 2/4
Ground Balls: NU 33, Virginia 29
Caused Turnovers: Virginia 7, NU 6
Draw Controls: NU 14, Virginia 11
Fouls: Virginia 22, NU 19
