Northwestern University Athletics
Season In Review: Back-to-Back NCAA Champs!
6/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
June 13, 2006
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Where does one begin when talking about the 2006 national championship season -- one year after making history by becoming the first non-east coast school to win a national title in lacrosse.
Do you start with the fact that the Wildcats became the first team in school history to win back-to-back NCAA titles? How about Kristen Kjellman taking home the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation's top player-the first player to win the award from a non-east coast school? Or talk about how the Wildcats again shattered several school records? The 31-game winning streak? The exceptional 41-1 record over the past two seasons? The dramatic overtime win over top-seeded Duke in the NCAA semifinals? Or how about the 2006 seniors going out as the winningest class in program history with 64 wins?
Talk about what you like. Your Wildcats are back-to-back NCAA champs -- in just their fifth year back as a varsity program!
Impressive you say?
Well, that would be an understatement considering the number of schools out there still in search of their first title.
Northwestern entered the 2006 season with one goal in mind. And, with a target on their backs all season long, the Wildcats silenced their critics once again, this time by repeating as national champions, culminating with their 7-4 win over Dartmouth at the NCAA championship game in Boston.
Out to prove that 2005 was no fluke, the Wildcats tore through the regular-season with just one blemish, a 16-1 record, a third-straight American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) championship, led the nation in several offensive categories and reclaimed their No. 1 national ranking by the end of the regular-season. Still not impressed, the top-ranked Wildcats were tabbed as the (ahem) fourth seed.
But it never once phased the focused 'Cats as they quickly went about their business, dismantling Stanford (17-9) and North Carolina (17-6) in the first two rounds en route to their second-straight NCAA Finals appearance. Northwestern then faced its toughest test of the season, going up against top-seeded Duke in the semifinals in which many dubbed as the "real" championship game. The game received national attention from all over-for a number of reasons. Afterall, the Wildcats were out for revenge after Duke ruined Northwestern's perfect season back in April, snapping the Wildcats' 31-game winning streak.
And the showdown between the nation's two top scoring teams was everything we expected and more. In an epic battle of two lacrosse heavyweights, the Wildcats were the ones left standing in the end as senior Sarah Albrecht scored the game-winner with 37 seconds left in the first half of overtime to give NU an 11-10 win over the Blue Devils. Then two days later in the championship game, the 'Cats ran into a stingy Dartmouth club that featured the nation's top scoring defense. Despite putting up only two goals in the first half, trailing by one at halftime and with their star player Kjellman hobbled by an ankle injury, the 'Cats still prevailed behind four goals from game MVP Aly Josephs and two from Albrecht, the NCAA Tournament MVP.
The win did more then just bring a second straight title to Evanston. It solidified Northwestern's spot on the national lacrosse map after many were still skeptical after the magical 2005 season.
As if entering the regular-season with a target on their backs wasn't pressure enough, the top-ranked Wildcats had to open with three straight road games, first going up against head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller's alma mater in No. 9 Maryland on Feb. 13 in College Park. After falling behind 4-0 early, the Wildcats came right back with seven straight goals of their own, giving Amonte Hiller her 50th career win. Kjellman led NU with three goals and three assists and was named the national player of the week for her efforts.
The win set the tone for the rest of the season and sent a message to the nation that the defending champs would not be dethroned that easily. Big wins over No.16 Hofstra and Rutgers followed two weeks later to close out the month of February before opening up at home against ALC foe Ohio on March 4, a 19-3 Wildcat triumph. From there they headed to Philadelphia for a date with No.18 Penn where Kjellman and Lindsey Munday stole the show, combining for 10 goals in NU's 17-8 win.
No.14 Notre Dame, an eventual Final Four participant, was next up for the Wildcats in Evanston two weeks later-and the 'Cats found themselves in a dog fight. The Irish jumped on the Wildcats early, leading 8-4 with seven minutes left in the first. But a 13-1 run by the 'Cats sucked the life out of the Irish and improved NU to 6-0 on the young season. The run was highlighted with four goals from Josephs and three from both Kjellman and Laura Glassanos.
After, Northwestern packed their bags for California for what was the beginning of a grueling six-game, month long road trip that totaled more than 10,000 miles.
Munday had the hot hand in the first two games in victories at California and Stanford, recording back-to-back eight-point efforts with four goals and four assists in each game. In the process she became NU's all-time assists leader and the 26th player in Division I history to record 100 or more career dishes. Albrecht also enjoyed a career day with a personal-best six goals in the Stanford win.
A week later Northwestern ran into its toughest opponent to date when they headed to up-state New York for a showdown with No.13 Syracuse. After a back and forth affair for most of the game, NU's balanced attack would prove too much as the Wildcats held off the Orange 13-11 before downing UConn two days later in Storrs, Conn.
The Wildcats then took their 31-game win streak to Durham, N.C. to face No. 4 Duke in what was built up as the biggest game of the regular-season for both teams. Duke was coming off its only loss of the season to date while the 'Cats entered the game on a roll in an attempt to extend the nation's longest winning streak.
But as they say, eventually, all good things must come to an end. To put it simple, the 'Cats just didn't have it on that April night and fell to the Blue Devils 16-10, their first loss since the 2004 season. Duke sprinted out to an 11-4 halftime lead and NU never recovered. Draw controls doomed the Wildcats early as Duke won nine of the 12 in the first period while forcing 22 Wildcat turnovers over the course of the game.
The loss hurt, yes, but was a blessing in disguise. The game proved to be a vital wake up call for a team that may have been on cruise control. And as most put it after the game, "better now than in May."
The so-called "wake-up call" couldn't have come at a better time either as NU next knocked off No. 19 Penn State 19-9 on Easter Sunday on the road before finally returning home for games against two top 10 teams in No. 5 UNC and No. 8 Johns Hopkins in the span of three days. Needing those two wins to hold their top 5 position in the polls and solidify a spot for a high seed in the tournament, the Wildcats came out and simply dominated both games from start to finish, downing UNC 18-10 and Johns Hopkins 17-5. Wins over Ohio State (which clinched NU's third straight ALC crown), Denver and Vanderbilt closed out the regular season with a 16-1 record, giving the Wildcats the momentum they needed entering the tournament.
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