Northwestern University Athletics
Bianco Tabbed ALC Defensive Player of the Week
4/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 2, 2014
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a week in which any member of the Northwestern defense would have been a deserving recipient of the award, NU junior goalie Bridget Bianco was tabbed the American Lacrosse Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her role in the Wildcats' 7-5 upset of No. 1 and previously unbeaten North Carolina on Monday.
The honor is the second such recognition of the season for the 2013 third-team All-American from Moorestown, N.J.
Facing a Tar Heels squad that averaged 18.5 goals and 35.8 shots through its first 11 games, Bianco anchored an NU defense that held the Heels to five goals and 12 attempts on net. She made three saves in each half and improved her season save percentage to .458.
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller also spotlighted the play of defenders Kerri Harrington and Haydyn Anigian in her postgame comments after the two won their one-on-one matchups for the day against the talented Aly Messinger (0 points, 0 shots) and Abbey Friend (one goal, four shots), respectively. The pair had been combining to score 9.0 points per game through UNC's first 11 games of 2014.
Northwestern has now held its opponent to six or fewer goals in three of the last four outings.
The Wildcats face two more quality opponents this weekend, going on the road to face No. 10 Penn State Friday and No. 12 Pennsylvania Sunday.
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