Spencer Leads Northwestern Onslaught
from press release
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Despite the frigid weather at
Lakeside Field, the Wildcats' play was red hot right from the
opening draw as they defeated Duquesne 23-1. Senior Danielle
Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) led the scoring onslaught with
seven points on five goals and a pair of assists while sophomore
Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) and senior Katrina
Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) each contributed three goals
of their own. 12 different players found the back of the net for
the `Cats, who are now 5-0 on the season.
Northwestern took control of this one early, as a free position
goal from sophomore Lacey Vigmostad (Northport, N.Y./Northport) and
a tally from freshman Erin Fitzgerald (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai)
off a feed from Spencer gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with just over
three minutes burned off the clock.
Then Spencer took control of the game as the senior All-American
rattled off three-straight for the 'Cats, giving Northwestern the
5-0 lead with 19:40 remaining in the opening half.
Five different players found the back of the net to close out the
opening stanza, including the first of the game off the sticks of
Dowd and Smith and Vigmostad's second, giving the Wildcats the 10-0
lead at the half. Junior Rachel Fox (Andover, Mass./Andover)
tallied her first of the season while freshman Ali Cassera
(Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) also scored during the run.
Northwestern picked up right where it left off in the second,
finding the back of the net five times in the opening 10 minutes to
extend its lead to 15-0. Sophomore Alexandra Frank (Westwood,
Mass./Westwood), who had missed the past three games with a leg
injury, opened up the second
half scoring with Smith, Dowd and freshman Amanda Macaluso
(Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) also finding the back of the net.
The Wildcats continued to extend its lead, as a goal from sophomore
Lizzie Abramson (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) with 1:18 remaining in
the game pushed the Northwestern lead to 22-0. But NU's bid for a
shutout faded with just under a minute left as Duquesne's Meredith
Dunn tallied the Dukes' lone goal of the game with 59 seconds
remaining. Senior Kim Pantages (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex)
closed out the scoring with her fourth goal of the season with 12
seconds left on the clock.
The 12 different goal scorers is the most for the Northwestern
attack on the year, with sophomore Jessica Russo (Port Jefferson,
N.Y./St. Anthony's) adding an assist to bring the number of Wildcat
scorers to 13. Macaluso, Fox and Vigmostad all finished with a
career-best two goals on the day with freshman Beatrice Conley
(Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) notching the first goal of her Wildcat
career.
Both Spencer and Dowd reached an impressive milestone in the
victory as the duo each recorded the 150th goal of their careers,
leaving them tied for eighth-place all-time in program history.
Spencer also won a game-high seven draw controls on the afternoon
while Dowd caused three Duke turnovers while scooping up three
ground balls and winning three draws herself.
It was a day in which Northwestern dominated in all facets in the
game as the Wildcats outshot the Dukes 44-6 while holding a 22-9
edge in ground balls, a 17-9 advantage in draw controls and
converted six of seven free position attempts. Sophomore goalkeeper
Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) had to make only
two saves on the day while keeping Duquesne off the scoreboard in
her 40 minutes of work.
The game marked the 300th in program history as Northwestern
improves to 218-82 all-time. The Wildcats also notched their
56th-consecutive victory at home while extending their overall
winning streak to 34 games.
Northwestern now embarks on arguably the toughest stretch of its
2010 season, playing five of the next six on the road, with five of
the upcoming opponents ranked among the IWLCA top-20 poll. The
Wildcats head to Syracuse, N.Y., to take on the seventh-ranked
Orange on Sunday, March
21, at noon CT. The game will be held at Christian Brothers Academy
in Syracuse as the Carrier Dome will be in preparations for the
East Regional of the NCAA basketball tournament.
