Northwestern
20-1
#5 Denver
22-1
No. 1 Northwestern Marches into National Title Game after Dismantling No. 5 Denver
5/26/2023 6:06:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
CARY, N.C. — Fueled by a three-quarter offensive blitzing, No. 1 Northwestern throttled No. 5 Denver 15-7 to advance to its first national championship game since 2012.
"It just feels unbelievable," coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said of returning to the national title game. "When you continue to win championships, you kind of just expect it from yourself and when that doesn't happen, you get humbled. … So for us to be one of the last two teams standing, we're really grateful for that."
Friday's semifinal clash between the Wildcats and Pioneers pitted the nation's premier offensive and defensive units against one another.
In the end, Northwestern's bevy of offensive weapons, highlighted by an eight-point effort from graduate student attacker Izzy Scane, proved too much for Denver, who conceded double-digit goals for the first time all season.
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Scane said the pregame attention was not devoted toward the Pioneers' formidable defense, which entered Friday's clash conceding just 5.82 goals per contest, but rather on staying grounded in the team's offensive principles.
"Our offense did a great job of moving the ball and creating opportunities for each other," Scane said. "(We were) just focusing on our offense as much as their defense, which is why we were able to be successful."
The two teams wasted little time putting themselves on the scoreboard, as Northwestern's two Tewaaraton finalists, Scane and senior attacker Erin Coykendall, tallied a pair of goals in less than six minutes.
Following Coykendall's score at the 9:58 mark in the first quarter, Denver's defense tightened, holding the 'Cats scoreless for over 15 minutes. As the nation's top offense sputtered, the Pioneers recorded three goals to take a 4-2 lead.
Midway through the second frame and still enduring a 17-minute scoring drought, Scane broke Northwestern's dry spell, cutting inside and scoring from a near impossible angle to trim the deficit to one goal. Scane's score shifted the tide for the Lake Show, as graduate student attacker Hailey Rhatigan tallied her first goal of the game just 46 seconds later.
Just like that, the floodgates flew open for the 'Cats. A transition goal from first-year attacker Madison Taylor and a second score from Rhatigan capped off a four-minute, 4-0 run from Northwestern, flipping the game's momentum on its head.
"We got settled in," Scane said of Northwestern's offensive surge. "Our plan going in was to be just as aggressive going at (Denver) as they came at us."
Denver quickly trimmed the Lake Show's advantage to one-goal out of the intermission, before Scane and Rhatigan ignited another offensive flurry. The 'Cats rattled off nine straight goals — four of which came from Scane — to put the game out of reach. Behind her six scores Friday, Scane is now the nation's leading goalscorer with 95 goals on the season — she is three goals away from tying her program-record 98 scores in 2021.
Scane said that as the defense continued to rack up stops, the offense wanted to build off that momentum and put some shots in the back of the cage.
"When the (defense) was coming up with those (stops), we tried to take our time, run our offense, focus on ourselves. Thankfully, it started hitting the back of the cage and things started rolling. It's awesome when you can get momentum and keep it — it's a great thing."
Though Northwestern flexed its full offensive arsenal against Denver, graduate student goalkeeper Molly Laliberty shined in front of the cage once again. Laliberty made at least seven stops for the sixth consecutive game, recording nine saves Friday.
After conceding four goals in the game's first 11 minutes, Northwestern's defense hunkered down, keeping the Pioneers off the board in the second quarter. Out of halftime, the unit conceded just one score over a 27-minute period, stymying any and all Denver attacks.
Laliberty, who called the efforts of the Lake Show's defensive unit "a thankless job," credited the defense's resiliency and trust in one another as the source for battling through the Pioneer's initial scoring wave. Amonte Hiller added that the 'Cats played "really clean, defensive lacrosse," forcing turnovers and drawing charges to keep Denver at bay.
"I was really pleased with the (defense)," Amonte Hiller said. "(Denver) stretched us out a little bit and were able to capitalize on some opportunities. Then we made some adjustments and the team did a tremendous job."
Now, the Lake Show prepares for the program's ninth appearance in a national championship game. After three consecutive seasons in which the Wildcats' postseason run fizzled out in the Final Four, Northwestern is one step closer to the ultimate prize.
"To be back in that position and have the opportunity to bring (a national championship) back to northwestern is phenomenal and just super exciting," Scane said. "I'm very thankful for it."
