Northwestern's Spencer Too Tall an Order for Duke
by Powell Latimer | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Game Blog
DURHAM, N.C. — For No. 5 Duke, the upset
was out of reach, cradled in the outstretched stick of Danielle
Spencer. The 6-foot-2 attacker pulled in 10 draw controls during
No. 1 Northwestern's 19-14 win Saturday, keeping the scrappy Blue
Devils at bay. Spencer also chipped in two goals and an assist.
"She's a force out there all over the field," Northwestern coach
Kelly Amonte Hiller said. "It's not too often that you find a
player that's so big and controls their body so well."
Spencer and the Wildcats (9-0) kept the ball above and over a Duke
team that thrives on ground balls and loose-ball scrums. The
Wildcats had 15 turnovers in the game, but only five of them came
during the second half.
With Duke (9-3) just one goal behind and fresh off a 6-1 run to
end the first half, Northwestern opened the final 30 minutes with
an emphatic 5-1 run to put the game back in Wildcat
control.
"We changed up a couple of things defensively," Hiller said. "It
was nothing physical, just more of a mental change."
The focus remained on keeping the Blue Devils from forcing
turnovers — a category in which they lead the nation. In the
first half Duke managed to create scrums all over the midfield. In
the second half, Spencer controlled the midfield.
"When she does get pressured, she doesn't get all frantic, which
is great," Amonte Hiller said of Spencer. "She stays composed and
she looks for opportunites to continue to move the ball, because
she does have a lot of attention on her."
At times, four or five Duke midfielders committed to harassing
Spencer, leading to easy passes and wide-open teammates with open
lanes to Duke's defense and freshman goalie Kaitlin Gaiss.
"Obviously I want the ball on attack and when they're doubling me
or not letting me get the ball, it's very frustrating, but I really
think it worked to our advantage," Spencer said. "Our younger
players really stepped up today. We had a lot of players scoring
goals."
Brooke Matthews was the most notable of those players with five
goals, doubling her season goal production. Katrina Dowd scored
four times and added two assists. Alexandra Frank had three goals.
Lindsay Gilbride led the Blue Devils with four goals. The
14 goals from Duke were the most allowed this season by the
Wildcats.
"We had some moments [in which] we had some really nice play,"
Amonte Hiller said. "We patched it together. For 10 minutes
straight we played really well, and we had some moments that
weren't so great, but I think we're making progress."
The game marked the 38th consecutive win for Northwestern, the
five-time defending national champion. It is also the second
straight time that the Wildcats have won in Durham after losing in
their first two trips to Koskinen Stadium.
"To put 19 on the board against Duke is definitely good," Amonte
Hiller said. "I think we tighten a few things up and maybe some of
those defensive goals won't happen."
