Wildcats Head East for Contests at No. 23 Johns Hopkins and No. 6 Penn

3/29/2018 9:23:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

NORTHWESTERN LACROSSE: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, March 30	#23 Johns Hopkins	2 p.m.	Baltimore, Md.	HopkinsSports.com	HopkinsSports.com
Sunday, April 1	#6 Penn	11 a.m.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Ivy League Network	PennAthletics.com
Social: Twitter (@NULax) \| Instagram (@NU_Lax) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Johns Hopkins \| Penn

EVANSTON, Ill. — The 11th-ranked Northwestern lacrosse program will hit the road for just the second time this season and the first time since February 18 for a pair of games on the east coast versus No. 23 Johns Hopkins and No. 6 Penn this weekend.

The 'Cats will look to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play versus the Blue Jays on Friday before they attempt to snap a two-game losing streak versus the Quakers on Sunday.

The Wildcats are on a two-game winning streak following victories over Michigan, 16-7, and No. 11 Syracuse, 14-10, earlier this week. The 'Cats are 7-3 overall and ranked No. 12 in the IWLCA poll.

NU has gone 13-4 versus Johns Hopkins all time and has an identical record in its series versus Penn.

OFFENSIVE SPARK PLUG
Senior midfielder Sheila Nesselbush is just five points away from becoming the 20th Northwestern player since 2002 to reach 100 career points. Nesselbush set a new career high with six points (5g/1a) versus No. 11 Syracuse and has tallied 19 points over last five games. Her eight goals over her last two games are the most in a two-game stretch in her career and she is already just seven goals and six points shy of her career highs set during the 2015 season. The senior co-captain ranks second on the team in goals (20), assists (7) and points (27).

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Redshirt first-year goalkeeper Julie Krupnick matched her season high with 12 saves for the second time in the last three games in the victory over No. 11 Syracuse on Monday. Krupnick has notched three double-digit save performances and has held eight of her first 10 opponents to 10 goals or less. She leads the Big Ten and ranks 16th nationally with a goals-against average of 9.48.

HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE COMPETITION
Junior Holly Korn, a 6-2 attacker, has recorded back-to-back three-point games with a season-high two goals and an assist. Korn played her first season at Colgate University before transferring to Northwestern. After initially serving as a team manager, she was added to the roster as an emergency backup goalkeeper in 2017. She transitioned to attack during the offseason and has since shined, scoring a goal in six games and registering 14 points (9 goals/5 assists).

RULE THE DRAW, RULE THE WORLD
Despite missing the first four games of the season, senior attack Shelby Fredericks has quickly returned to form as one of the nation's most dominant draw control specialists. Fredericks matched her season high for the second time this season with 13 draw controls versus No. 11 Syracuse and now has 56 draws in just six games. The senior would rank second nationally if she qualified (a player must have played in 75% of her team's games). Fredericks is the active NCAA Division I leader with 416 career draw controls and is third among active players with 6.12 draw controls per game.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore midfielder Megan Kinna has recorded a point in five-straight games for the first time in her career, tallying 11 during the stretch. Kinna has already matched her season total from last season with 15 points and is just three goals shy of passing her first-year mark. The Maple Ridge, British Columbia, native has also been strong with 11 draw controls, just two shy of her 2017 total.

LEND A HELPING HAND
The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and rank 17th nationally at 6.50 assists per game. Nineteen different Wildcats have recorded at least one assist this season after just 13 players did so in 2017. Last season, the 'Cats ranked 75th in the country at just 4.38 assists per game. Senior attack Shelby Fredericks leads NU with 11 assists in just six games and has moved her way up to seventh in program history with 69 career dimes.

MISS STEAL YOUR BALL
Senior defender Lindsay Darrell has become one of the more menacing defenders in the Big Ten. Darrell leads the Wildcats with a career-high matching 17 caused turnovers and is second in the Big Ten with 1.70 caused turnovers per game. The Long Island native has at least one caused turnover in eight of nine games this season and has caused at least two in five contests.

PAIR OF 'CATS NAMED TO TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
Senior midfielder Sheila Nesselbush and junior attack Selena Lasota were among 50 players named to the Tewaaraton Preseasn Watch List last month. Lasota was named to the Tewaaraton list each of the last four years, while Nesselbush was recognized for the first time in her career.