Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Are Top Seed For NCAAs
5/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 8, 2005
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Unlike last year, there was no need for the members of the Northwestern women's lacrosse team to be nervous leading up to the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Selection Show Sunday night on College Sports Television (CSTV) -- the fourth-year Wildcats have been the No. 1 team in the land for seven-straight weeks, and secured a postseason berth by winning the American Lacrosse Conference title.
The only suspense came in where the Wildcats would be seeded in the 16-team field, and who would stand in their path to a possible first national title. Finally, both questions have been answered.
The good news is that the `Cats are the tournament's top seed, and they will begin their march with a pair of home games. Northwestern will open postseason play Thursday afternoon by hosting Mount St. Mary's at 4 p.m.; win that game, and the Wildcats would host either eighth-seeded Princeton or Maryland Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The next step after that? The Final Four, which will be hosted by the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the following weekend (semifinals will take place Friday, May 20, and the NCAA Championship game will be Sunday, May 22).
Ticket prices have also been set for Northwestern's game(s); admission will be $5 for adults and $3 for Northwestern and Mount St. Mary's students with ID as well as kids 18 and under.
"I had a feeling that we might get Mount St. Mary's to start the tournament, and also that Princeton and Maryland would show up in our bracket for the second round," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "To be honest, we are thrilled to be back in the tournament -- obviously it wasn't as nerve-racking this year, since we knew we were in with the automatic bid.
"We have the potential for two home games, and we are the top seed. Those things are icing on the cake. We are excited to get going."
Mount St. Mary's (14-5) -- led by fourth-year head coach Courtney Martinez Connor -- will come to Evanston after winning a play-in game over Manhattan, 18-2, Friday to earn its spot in the field. The Mountaineers won the Northeast Conference (NEC) title with a 7-1 mark. MSM is led by sophomore Casey Paris, who earned All-NEC honors after scoring 42 goals and garnering 57 points. Senior Nicole Di'Angelo had a school-record 25 assists and added 27 goals for 52 points, while Erin LaMotte had 47 points. Jen Davison leads the Mount defense, which is backstopped by Naomi Campano who had 161 saves, a 6.94 goals against average, and a .583 save percentage. LaMotte, Davison and Campano joined Paris on the All-NEC first team.
This is NU's second-straight year playing in the NCAAs. Last year, the Wildcats received an at-large bid, defeated Notre Dame in their first postseason game since returning to varsity status (in 2002), then fell to eventual national champion Virginia 15-11 in the quarterfinal round.
Overall, this is the Wildcats' seventh NCAA bid -- they also received five during the first era of lacrosse, from 1982-92 (the last coming in 1988), going a combined 1-5 and never advancing beyond the quarterfinal round.
Like Northwestern, Mount St. Mary's will be playing in the NCAAs for the second-straight year -- and like the `Cats, the Mountaineers were bounced from last year's event by Virginia (19-2 in the first round).
Northwestern (17-0) enters the NCAA Tournament as the only unbeaten team in Division I. In just their fourth year as a varsity program, the Wildcats have shattered school records for goals (272), assists (140) and points (412) this season, and they lead the nation in scoring offense (16.00), scoring defense (5.94), scoring margin (+10.06) and draw controls per game (16.00).
NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
First-Round Games (to be played Thursday, May 12)
Mount St. Mary's at (1) Northwestern
Maryland at (8) Princeton
Towson at (5) Georgetown
Syracuse at (4) Dartmouth
Colgate at (3) Boston University
Johns Hopkins at (6) Virginia
North Carolina at (7) Penn State
Richmond at (2) Duke
