No. 8 Wildcats Put Winning Streak on the Line versus Ohio State, Notre Dame

4/5/2018 10:42:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

NORTHWESTERN LACROSSE: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, April 6	Ohio State	3 p.m.	Martin Stadim Evanston, Ill.	BTNPlus on BTN2Go	NUSports.com
Sunday, April 8	#21 Notre Dame	12 p.m.	Martin Stadim Evanston, Ill.	BTNPlus on BTN2Go	NUSports.com
Social: Twitter (@NULax) \| Instagram (@NU_Lax) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Ohio State \| Notre Dame

EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern will look to extend its four-game winning streak when it plays host to Big Ten foe Ohio State and No. 21 Notre Dame this weekend.

The Wildcats won four-straight games over Spring Break to improve to 9-3 overall and vault to No. 8 in the IWLCA poll. The 'Cats will look to keep their Big Ten record unblemished when they host the Buckeyes Friday at 3 p.m. before the Fighting Irish visit Sunday at noon.

Chicago's Big Ten Team moved up to No. 8 in the latest coaches poll thanks in large part to wins over three ranked foes during Spring Break. Following a 14-10 win over No. 11 Syracuse, NU went on the road to defeat No. 23 Johns Hopkins, 11-10, and upset No. 6 Penn at Homewood Field in double overtime, 12-11.

Senior Sheila Nesselbush became the 20th NU player since 2002 to reach 100 career points with a goal versus the Quakers. Nesselbush has tallied 25 points over her last seven games to reach the milestone.

Nesselbush and goalkeeper Julie Krupnick were named the Big Ten Offensive Player and Freshman of the week on Wednesday.

KRUPNICK HAS NO KRYPTONITE
Redshirt first-year goalkeeper Julie Krupnick was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week and the National Player of the Week by the Baltimore Sun after her dominant performances in wins over three ranked foes last week. Krupnick notched double-digit saves in all three games, stopping 12 shots versus Syracuse and Penn, while making a career-high 14 saves at Johns Hopkins. Her 14 saves versus the Blue Jays tied the second-best mark in program history and were the most by a Wildcat since Morgan Lathrop made 14 stops versus Maryland in April of 2007. The Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, leads the Big Ten and ranks 17th nationally with a goals-against average of 9.60. She has held 10 of 12 opponents to 10 goals or less.

KEEPIN' IT 100
Senior midfielder Sheila Nesselbush became the 20th NU player since the program was revitalized in 2000 to reach 100 career points with her 84th career goal on Sunday. Nesselbush has tallied 25 points in her last seven games to reach the milestone and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after recording 11 points (9 goals/2 assist) in three wins last week. She ranks first in Big Ten play in points per game (4.50), second in goals per game (3.0) and is also in the top 10 in draws per game (3.0).

KNOCKIN' ON THE DOOR
Senior attack Danita Stroup is also on the cusp of reaching 100 points as a Wildcat. Stroup is third on the team with 17 goals and 19 points after being granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA last summer. The Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, native played her first season at LIU Brooklyn, scoring 31 goals and dishing out 11 assists in just 16 games.

LEND A HELPING HAND
Senior attack Shelby Fredericks registered her fifth and sixth multi-assist games of the season last week to push her team-leading total to 16 despite missing the first four games of the season. Fredericks is the league leader in assists per game (3.0) during conference-only play. She ranks sixth in program history with 74 career assists and is just seven shy of passing Hilary Bowen for fifth. The Wildcats lead the Big Ten and rank 27th nationally with 6.25 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.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore midfielder Megan Kinna has recorded a point in seven-straight games for the first time in her career, tallying 14 during the stretch. Kinna has already surpassed her season total from last year with 19 points and is just one goal shy of passing her first- year mark. She has doubled her assist total from four to eight in just 12 games and has already matched her draw career total from her rookie campaign.

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 20 caused turnovers and is second in the Big Ten with 1.67 caused turnovers per game. The Long Island native has at least one caused turnover in 10 of 12 games this season and has caused at least two in seven contests.