Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Close Out Regular Season vs. Vanderbilt on Friday
5/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 4, 2006
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May 5, 2006 - 4 p.m. CT
#1 Northwestern (15-1, 4-0 ALC)
vs. Vanderbilt (6-8, 2-2 ALC)
Lakeside Field-Thomas Athletic Complex
Evanston, Ill.
EVANSTON, Ill. - Back on top, the No. 1 Northwestern Wildcats will look to close out the regular season in style when they play host to the Vanderbilt Commodores at 4 p.m. CT at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill. After already clinching a share of its third straight ALC crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last weekend, the 'Cats can win the conference outright with a win Friday.
'Cats Back On Top
The defending NCAA champs (15-1, 4-0 ALC) are back where they belong: atop the national rankings. The Wildcats have reclaimed the No. 1 spot in every major lacrosse poll after winning its last five games in convincing fashion and clinching its third straight ALC title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Ranked No. 1 for a majority of the season, the Wildcats dropped from the top spot back on April 7 when they had their 31-game win streak snapped at Duke--a loss which came during a grueling six-game, five week long road trip that totaled more than 10,000 miles. All told, 11 of NU's 17 regular-season games have been away from home where the Wildcats have won 17 in a row dating to 2004.
Since that game, the nation's top-scoring team (16.7 goals per game) has outscored its last five opponents by a combined score of 89-38-an average of more than 10 goals per game. They defeated No. 18 Penn State 19-9 on Easter Sunday on the road before dominating No. 5 UNC and No. 8 Johns Hopkins 18-10 and 17-5, respectively, in the span of three days. Then, after clinching at least a share of its third straight ALC crown with a 16-4 win at Ohio State, the Wildcats defeated Denver 19-10 last Sunday.
Weekend Recap
Lindsey Munday scored 11 points over the weekend and Kristen Kjellman and Hilary Bowen both tallied eight points as the second-ranked Wildcats picked up two more wins and clinched at least a share of its third straight ALC crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. On Friday, the Wildcats opened the game with 13 unanswered goals and didn't give up its first goal until the 46th minute-midway through the second half-in the 16-4 win at Ohio State. Then on Sunday against Denver, Kjellman led the Wildcats with five goals as NU won its fifth in a row and 17th straight at home with a 19-10 win over the Denver Pioneers in wet and slippery conditions. For Kjellman, one of the top candidates for this year's Tewaaraton Trophy, it marked her 13th hat trick or better on the season and her 10th game with four or more goals. Munday, also a top finalist for the Tewaaraton, recorded five points with three goals and two assists while Aly Josephs finished with three goals to lead the Wildcat attack.
Wake Up Call
After scoring a season-low 10 goals in the loss at then-No. 4 Duke on April 7, the rejuvenated 'Cats have been on a tear over their last five games-which have all been vs. ranked opponents. They are outscoring their opponents 89-38, an average of more than 10 per game.
April 16 @ #18 Penn State W 19-9 April 21 vs. #5 UNC W 18-10 April 23 vs. #8 Johns Hopkins W 17-5 April 28 @ Ohio State W 16-4 April 30 vs. Denver W 19-10
'Cats Leading The Nation
Northwestern leads the nation in four major statistical categories and rank in the top 25 in six.
1st Goals per game (16.69) 1st Draw controls (16.0) 1st Scoring margin (8.63), 1st Win percentage (15-1, .938) 7th Goals allowed per game (8.06) 21st Ground balls (25.69)
Individually, Kristen Kjellman, Lindsey Munday, Laura Glassanos, Aly Josephs, Morgan Lathrop and Sarah Albrecht are among the national leaders in several categories. Below is a breakdown of where the Wildcats rank nationally:
Points Per Game Lindsey Munday - (6th) 5.19 Kristen Kjellman - (7th) 5.06
Goals Per Game Kristen Kjellman - (5th) 3.63
Assists Per Game Lindsey Munday - (3rd) 2.69 Kristen Kjellman - (27th) 1.44
Goals-Against Average Morgan Lathrop - (9th) 8.17
Ground Balls Kristen Kjellman - (35th) 3.0 Sarah Albrecht - (44th) 2.94
Draw Controls Kristen Kjellman - (4th) 4.75 Sarah Albrecht - (13th) 3.06
Amonte Hiller Honored
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was named the US Lacrosse Women's Coach of the Week on April 24 after the Wildcats picked up two wins over No. 5 North Carolina (18-10) and No. 8 Johns Hopkins (17-5). Northwestern defeated both teams by a combined score of 35-15.
Kjellman Gains National Honors
Kristen Kjellman has been named last week's womenslacrosse.com and insidelacrosse.com National Player of the Week after the 'Cats knocked off No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 Johns Hopkins in convincing fashion April 21 and 23. Both national honors are the second this season for the Westwood, Mass. native. Kjellman, one of the leading candidates for this year's Tewaaraton Trophy, tallied nine goals and two assists for 11 points to go along with 10 draw controls, two ground balls and five caused turnovers. Against UNC on Friday, Kjellman lit up the Tarheel defense-the third best defense in the nation coming in at 7.2 goals per contest-for five goals and one assist as the Wildcats won 18-10. She also had seven draw controls and caused two turnovers. Then in the 17-5 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday, Kjellman recorded four goals, her ninth game this season with four or more, and one assist while causing three turnovers and snagging three GB's.
Records Are Meant to Be Broken
Kristen Kjellman is just the second Wildcat in program history to record 50 goals in three straight seasons-she has 58 so far this season. Kjellman is the first to accomplish that feat since Kathleen Kochmansky did it from 1982-84. Kjellman scored 53 as a freshman and 59 last season-and at her current scoring rate, if NU advances to the finals again this year, she will end up breaking the NU single-season record for goals in a season which is 76, held by Kate Oleykowski (1987).
Munday, Kjellman Named Finalists For Tewaaraton Trophy
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announced the women's collegiate nominees for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy. The list of women has been narrowed to 21 from which five athletes will be chosen as the 2006 Finalists for the Trophy presented on June 1st. Northwestern's Kristen Kjellman and Lindsey Munday are two of the 21 finalists.
Amonte Hiller Honored by NCAA
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was named to the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse 25th Anniversary Team April 13. The former University of Maryland standout led the Terrapins to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 1995 and '96. The two-time IWLCA Player of the Year was a first-team all-America selection three times in 1994, '95 and '96 and a third-team selection in 1993. She also was named to the NCAA all-Tournament team three straight years from 1994-96. Amonte Hiller is in her fifth season as the head coach at Northwestern University. Last season she led the Wildcats to a perfect 21-0 record and the school's first NCAA team title since 1941, becoming the first team outside of the Eastern Time Zone to win an NCAA lacrosse title-male or female-at any level. She was later named the 2005 IWLCA Coach of the Year for her efforts.
Amonte Hiller's Maryland Accomplishments:
Offensive Juggernaut
The Wildcats, first in the nation in scoring at 16.7 goals per game, have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 267-129, and a combined score of 89-38 over their last five games, an average of more then 10 goals per game. Northwestern's largest win was a 19-3 drubbing of Ohio University in Evanston March 4. They have allowed 10 or more goals just five times this year. NU has scored in double digits each game and have scored 13 or more in all but one.
The Wildcats boast six players with 22 or more goals on the year who make up 82 percent of NU's scoring, two of which are Tewaaraton Award finalists. Kristen Kjellman leads with 58 goals, Aly Josephs is second with 41 while Lindsay Munday is third with 40 goals and team-best 43 assists. Laura Glassanos and Sarah Albrecht and Meredith Frank round out the top scorers with 36, 24 and 22 goals, respectively.
Scouting The Commodores
The Commodores currently sit in fourth place in the ALC with a 2-2 league record and a 6-8 mark overall. They feature a stingy defense that gives up 9.71 goals per game and ranks 25th nationally. Kate Hickman ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 3.86 points per game and third in goals with 2.86 per. Brooke Shinaberry has started 14 games with 109 saves compared to 129 goals allowed. Cathy Swezey is in her ninth season as the head coach at Vanderbilt.
Road Warriors
Eleven of Northwestern's 17 regular-season games this year are away from Evanston, which included a six-game road trip spanning from March 23 to Friday's home game on April 21. Over that six-game road swing, the Wildcats traveled over an estimated 10,000 miles. To put it in perspective, that is roughly equivalent to driving from New York City to Los Angeles and back-twice! At seasons end, the Wildcats will have traveled over an estimated 17,500 miles, which is more than THREE round trips from the Big Apple to California.
Munday Breaks Record
With her four assists on March 23 against California, senior Lindsey Munday broke NU's all-time record for assists. She passed Maureen Mullen (94; 1986-89) who held the record for more than 16 years. Munday also had another four-assist effort in the win over No. 18 Stanford two days later, giving her 100 for her career. Munday is the 26th person in Division I history to record 100 career assists. She has recorded multiple assist games 12 times this season, including five in the win over then-No. 13 Notre Dame March 19.
Kjellman Moves Up the Charts
In only her junior season, Kristen Kjellman ranks in the top 3 in goals, assists and points on NU's all-time lists. She is in sole possession of third place with 170 goals, 72 assists and 242 total points. She leads the Wildcats this season with 58 goals to compliment 23 assists, including a six-goal, one-assist performance in the win at Penn March 7 and a three five-goal performances vs. Ohio, at Duke and vs. North Carolina. Kjellman was second on the team last season with 59 goals and had 53 as a freshman in 2004. Kjellman is just the second Wildcat in program history to record 50 goals in three straight seasons-the first to accomplish that feat since Kathleen Kochmansky did it from 1982-84.
