First Half Surge Lifts TopCats Over Buckeyes
from press release
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After falling behind early,
Northwestern's offense came alive midway through the opening half,
using a 10-0 run to help race past Ohio State 17-10 in its American
Lacrosse Conference opener. Senior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights,
N.Y./Yorktown) had four goals and two assists while freshman Ali
Cassera (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) found the back of the net four
times as well, setting a personal-best for the freshman.
Northwestern had its chances early, but five Ohio State saves and a
pair of post shots kept the Wildcats off the board. After the
Buckeyes took the early lead, Cassera got NU on the board at the
20:32 mark, tying the game at one. Ohio State reclaimed the lead at
2-1, only to see freshman Erin Fitzgerald (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt.
Sinai) tie the game on a free position shot at 14:51.
The Wildcats then took their first lead of the game as freshman
Taylor Thornton (Dallas, Texas) fed sophomore Shannon Smith (West
Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) at the top of the arc who fired a shot
into the back of the net, followed 82 seconds later by a free
position goal from senior Danielle Spencer (Rochester,
N.Y./Brighton).
The three quick goals seemed to ignite the Northwestern offense as
the Wildcats would close out the half with eight unanswered tallies
to take a 9-2 lead into the break. Cassera would add two more to
her total for her first career hat trick, with Fitzgerald adding
her second late in the half. Sophomore Alexandra Frank (Westwood,
Mass./Westwood) and senior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights,
N.Y./Yorktown) also contributed during the 8-0 run.
The attack continued into the second half as Smith found Frank
cutting to the net with just 58 seconds burned off the clock as
Northwestern hit double digits, which was answered by Smith's
second of the game and extended the Wildcat lead to 11-2.
Northwestern's largest lead of the game would come at 17-5 off a
score from freshman Amanda Macaluso (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) as
the Wildcats would maintain its 10-goal edge for the majority of
the half before five late Buckeye goals trimmed the final gap to
seven. Seven different 'Cats found the back of the net on the
evening with Fitzgerald, Frank, Smith and Spencer each recording a
pair of goals.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky
Point), the ALC's Defensive Player of the Week, continued her solid
plays, recording nine saves on the night, including eight in the
opening half. Junior Darby St. Clair-Barrie (Scituate, Mass./Brooks
School) set a personal-best with five saves in relief.
Northwestern held a 43-31 edge in shots, including a 27-11 edge in
the opening half. The Wildcats again held the advantage in draws at
21-8 as Spencer and Dowd both had a game-high six on the night. The
half dozen upped Spencer's career total to 127, moving her past
Sarah Albrecht into fifth-place all-time in program history.
Thornton tied her career-best with four caused turnovers to go
along with four ground balls.
With the victory, Northwestern extends its consecutive winning
streak to 36 games, tying the longest in program history. The
Wildcats have also now won 30-straight American Lacrosse Conference
games while improving to 7-2 all-time against the Buckeyes.
Northwestern now returns home to the friendly confines of Lakeside
Field for an early week home game against 11th-ranked Notre Dame on
Tuesday, March 30. Opening draw against the Fighting Irish is
schedule for 6 p.m.
