Saturday, April 21

Evanston, Ill.

12 p.m.

Northwestern

13-3, 5-0Big Ten

Rutgers

7-9, 1-4Big Ten

Team	1	2	Final F
Rutgers	5	2	7
Northwestern	13	6	19

Photo by: S. J. Carrera, Inc.

Make It Eight: ’Cats Extend Streak with Win on Senior Day, 19-7

4/21/2018 3:01:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score PDF Box Score Photo Gallery WATCH: Highlights WATCH: Amonte Hiller Postgame WATCH: Fredericks Postgame WATCH: Chelios & Lasota Postgame

By: Kyle Kelley

EVANSTON, Ill. — Shelby Fredericks finished one assist shy of Northwestern's single-game record and Tara Chelios put an exclamation mark on senior day with her first career goal as the seventh-ranked Wildcats extended their winning streak to eight games with a rout of Big Ten foe Rutgers at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, 19-7.

Fredericks had eight assists in the first half alone and finished with a career-high nine, closing just one shy of Hannah Nielsen's program record. The Long Island native's nine assists tie the second-best mark in Division I women's lacrosse this season as well.

The Wildcats (13-3) remained perfect in Big Ten play to set up a showdown at No. 2/3 Maryland on Thursday, April 26 for the Big Ten regular season title. The game will be broadcast on national television on the Big Ten Network and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT opening draw.

Before the 'Cats could look ahead to next week, they had to take care of the Scarlet Knights (7-9, 1-4 Big Ten) on Saturday and they wasted no time doing so. Fredericks assisted on five of the first six goals as Chicago's Big Ten Team jumped out to a 6-1 lead just under 13 minutes into the contest.

After a pair of goals by the Knights cut the lead to three, 6-3, the Wildcats responded by scoring seven of the game's next nine goals to take a 13-5 lead into the break.

Senior Danita Stroup scored three of her season-high four goals in the first half and sophomore Lindsey McKone had two points during the run. McKone dished an assist to Stroup at the 4:51 mark and scored a goal of her own on Fredericks' eighth assist with just 11 seconds left before halftime.

The Wildcats opened the second half by scoring five-straight goals to extend their run to 6-0 and grab their largest lead of the game, 18-5. Senior Sheila Nesselbush scored a pair of goals to give her four in the game and reach 40 on the season, sophomore Meghan Duffy found junior Emily Stein for her sixth goal of the season and Lasota connected with fellow Canadian Brianna Stroup to match her career high with three assists.

With her seven points Saturday afternoon, Lasota moved past Erin Fitzgerald (216; 2010-13) into eighth on NU's career points list with 218.

With the game well in hand, Chelios moved from her usual spot on defense to the attack for a chance to score her first career goal. After a pair of shots went wide, the Detroit, Michigan, native worked her way through three defenders and bounced a shot by the Rutgers keeper to send the bench into a frenzy of celebration.

Northwestern finished with a season-high 15 assists in the contest. Fredericks career-high nine helpers moved her within eight of Kristen Kjellman (99; 2004-07) for fourth on the NU career list. She also had a game-high nine draw controls and is just six shy of tying Alyssa Leonard's (2011-14) program record of 469.