'Cats Advance to Quarterfinals With 21-17 Win Over Towson

5/13/2018 2:33:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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TOWSON, Md. – Northwestern downed Towson, 21-17, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday behind eight goals apiece from Selena Lasota and Sheila Nesselbush.

The Wildcats advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face No. 2 seed North Carolina on either May 19 or 20.

Senior Sheila Nesselbush scored a career-high eight goals, breaking her previous mark of six that she set on Friday. Both her and Lasota's efforts rank fifth in program history for goals in a game.

Selena Lasota notched at least eight goals for the third time in her career, following her nine-goal outing on Friday. Through two NCAA Tournament games, her total of 17 is five off the NCAA Tournament record of 22. Lasota also improved her season tally to 70 goals, eclipsing her previous best of 69 goals in her first year.

After the 24-goal output in the first round on Friday, the combined total of 45 goals is the most in any two-game stretch in program history since Mar. 12 and 14 in 2009, when the Wildcats scored 20 against Hofstra and 24 against Rutgers.

The Wildcats last posted back-to-back 20-goal games this season against Ohio State and Notre Dame in a 20-6 win over the Buckeyes on Apr. 6 and a 20-10 win over the Fighting Irish on Apr. 8.

Senior Shelby Fredericks chipped in offensively with five assists and a team-high seven draw controls. Junior Emily Stein scored two goals and senior Nicole Beardsley added a goal and two assists.

Redshirt first year Julie Krupnick started between the pipes and made nine saves to earn the win.

The Wildcats opened a back-and-forth first half with two goals from Nesselbush within the first five minutes to make it 2-0. After Towson responded, Lasota got her first goal to keep the game at 3-1.

The Tigers went on a three-goal run to take a 4-3 lead, but Holly Korn finished from close range to tie the game. Towson took the lead again but after giving the 'Cats a man-advantage, Fredericks passed to a wide-open Beardsley, who made it 5-5.

Stein scored after the Tigers went up at 6-5 to balance the seesaw, but then Towson scored twice in a slow five-minute stretch to take an 8-6 lead with 1:21 to go in the half. Lasota and Nesselbush came up clutch with goals in the last minute of the half, however, and the teams went into the break deadlocked at 8-8.

Towson took a 10-9 lead in the opening stages of the second half, but Northwestern broke the game open with a 5-0 run exclusively from Nesselbush and Lasota. Nesselbush scored her fifth and sixth goals and Lasota ripped off her third, fourth, and fifth goals in less than a three-minute stretch to make it 14-10.

The Tigers worked around a Lindsey McKone goal with three of their own to cut the game to 15-13. Nesselbush and Lasota delivered once more, with a FPS conversion from the former and the patented jump-shot from distance from the latter to make it 17-13.

Towson could only trade goals from there, making the game as close as 19-16 with just over four minutes to play. Stein shut the door with three minutes left with a deft spin and finish and Lasota put the nail in the coffin with her eighth and final goal with 2:37 to play to give the 'Cats 21 goals.

Northwestern will play in its first quarterfinal since 2015, when it defeated Louisville in the first round and Notre Dame in the second round before falling to No. 1 seed Maryland.

At 15-5, the Wildcats will travel to Raleigh, N.C. to play the North Carolina Tar Heels, who defeated Virginia Tech 17-8 in the second round today and own a 16-3 record.