Northwestern
#1 North Carolina
No. 4 Wildcats to Battle No. 1 North Carolina in NCAA Tournament Semifinal
5/24/2022 9:41:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
| NORTHWESTERN LACROSSE: GAME INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | Opponent | TIME | LOCATION | Watch | Live Stats |
| Friday, May 27 | No. 1 North Carolina | 2 p.m. CT | Homewood Field Baltimore, Md. |
ESPNU | Live Stats |
| Social: Twitter: @NULax | Instagram: @nu_lax | |||||
EVANSTON, Ill. – For the 13th time in program history, the Northwestern women's lacrosse team will appear in the NCAA Tournament semifinals when it takes on North Carolina at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, May 27, at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md. The game will air on ESPNU with Jay Alter (play-by-play), Sheehan Stanwick Burch (analyst) and Dana Boyle (sideline reporter) on the call. Westwood One Sports has national play-by-play radio coverage for the first time in the history of the tournament as Cooper Boardman (play-by-play) and Alyssa Murray-Cometti (analyst) have the call on Sirius Channel 135 and XM Channel 204.
TICKETS | NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET | WESTWOOD ONE RADIO
NCAA Tournament History
The No. 4 seed Wildcats (14-6) are making their 23rd all-time tournament appearance and 18th under the leadership of head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. From 2005 through 2012, NU claimed seven NCAA championships: second-most in the sport's history behind Maryland's 14. Dating back to her first NCAA Tournament appearance as a coach in 2004, Amonte Hiller now holds a 49-10 record in the event and a 29-0 mark in home games. Her 49 wins are the most by a head coach in the tournament's history. Northwestern has qualified for three consecutive semifinals (2019, 2021, 2022), holds an all-time record of 8-4 in the round and is looking to reach its first national championship game since 2012.
Last Time Out
Dominating from the first draw, Northwestern rolled to a 15-4 victory over No. 5 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals at Martin Stadium on Thursday, May 19. Goalkeeper Madison Doucette and the Wildcat defense were the story of the game, holding Syracuse to just four goals, its lowest output of the season. Doucette posted a career-high .733 save percentage, stopping 11-of-15 shots, and recording her fourth 10+ save game of the season. The Orange were held scoreless for 35 total minutes over the second and third periods. Lauren Gilbert led the team scoring four goals, while Jill Girardi, Erin Coykendall, and Samantha Smith each contributed two. Elle Hansen recorded a team-best two assists.
Season Superlatives
- First-year Samantha White headlined individual conference awards for Northwestern, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year accolades. She is the third Wildcat to win the award, and first since Izzy Scane in 2019.
- Coykendall, Gilbert, Girardi and Ally Palermo earned several post season honors: All-Big Ten First Team, USA Lacrosse Magazine All-Americans, IL Lacrosse All-Americans and IWLCA All-Region First Team members.
- Doucette grabbed IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week honors after her 11-save performance last week against Syracuse.
'Cat Facts
- The Wildcats have scored 52 goals in the NCAA Tournament, the highest mark among the four remaining teams (Maryland – 37, Boston College – 33, North Carolina 32).
- Northwestern has won 20 consecutive home games, the third-longest active streak in the country (North Carolina – 31, Stony Brook – 26). The Wildcats finished the season 12-0 at home this season: 7-0 inside Ryan Fieldhouse and 5-0 at Martin Stadium.
- Northwestern is 8-4 against ranked opponents this season and 16-0 when scoring 12 or more goals.
- The Wildcats rank third nationally in draw controls per game (18.3).
- Northwestern's fantastic draw play is powered by Girardi, who is second in the nation in draw controls per game (9.8). She has racked up a whopping 177 draws on the season, which is second in program history behind Brennan Dwyer's 181 draw controls during the 2019 season.
- Gilbert tops the Wildcat roster with a career-high 74 goals on the season to place sixth in the country. She is fourth in school history with 220 career goals.
Scouting North Carolina
North Carolina (20-0) recorded an 8-5 win over No. 8 seed Stony Brook to reach the semifinals, despite posting their lowest scoring output of the season. Fifth year Jamie Ortega leads the team in points (105), goals (64) and assists (41). UNC has a slim 12-11 lead in the all-time series, and is on an eight game win-streak. Earlier this year on March 6, the Tar Heels took down Northwestern, 20-9, in Chapel Hill. Northwestern is 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament against UNC, which includes two semifinal wins in 2010 and 2011.
Up Next
The 'Cats look to advance to the championship round for the first time since 2012, where they would face the winner of Boston College versus Maryland at 11 a.m. CT at Homewood Field on Sunday, May 29.
