Northwestern Thumps Vandy; ALC Reign Continues
from press release
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the sixth-straight
season, the American Lacrosse Conference trophy will reside in
Evanston as second-ranked Northwestern took care of 10th-ranked
Vanderbilt 23-14 in the ALC championship game at Jesse Owens
Memorial Stadium. Sophomore Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West
Babylon) had a career-day for the 'Cats, netting seven goals and
adding three assists.
Offense ruled the chilly afternoon in Columbus as Smith was one of
four Wildcats to net at least three goals. Freshman Erin Fitzgerald
(Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) tied a career-high with four goals,
matching the total she put up the last time the 'Cats faced the
Commodores. Senior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown)
and freshman Ali Cassera (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) each added a
hat trick for Northwestern with Dowd adding an assist.
Four other Wildcats found the back of the net on the afternoon,
including a pair from senior Danielle Spencer (Rochester,
N.Y./Brighton) to go along with a pair of assists and a game-high
seven draws. Sophomore Alexandra Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood)
had two goals and an assist with junior Brooke Matthews (Baltimore,
Md./Friends School) and freshman Taylor Thornton (Dallas,
Texas/Hockaday School) each notching a goal.
Dowd, the regular season ALC Player of the Year, was named the ALC
Championship's Most Valuable Player after racking up nine goals and
four assists on the weekend. She was joined on the all-tournament
team by Smith, Spencer, Thornton and freshman Gabriella Flibotte
(Cohasset, Mass./Groton School).
Northwestern set out early to erase any doubt as to whether or
not it would continue its ALC domination as Fitzgerald and Frank
put the Wildcats up 2-0 with only 25 seconds burned off the
clock.
Vanderbilt would add a goal of its own a few minutes later, setting
up a pattern that would continue for the majority of the opening
half. The Wildcats would score a pair, followed by one from the
Commodores. Leading 10-5, Northwestern finally broke that trend,
rattling off five-straight to break the game open at 15-5 in the
waning minutes of the opening half.
Leading 15-6 at halftime, Smith would fire her fifth of the game
into the back of the net to push the lead back to 10 at 16-6. But
Vanderbilt wasn't about to go down quietly, scoring four-straight
goals to trim the Northwestern advantage to four at 10-6 with 23:35
remaining.
The Wildcats, however, were not going to be denied in their quest
for a sixth-straight conference title. Northwestern would tally
four of the next five, including a pair from Smith, to push the
lead back to nine at 20-11. Three unanswered down the stretch
slammed the door on a possible Vanderbilt comeback as the Wildcats
extended their conference winning streak to 36 games, including an
8-0 record in the four ALC Championships. In all, nine different
Wildcats recorded a point in the championship game with Matthews
and freshman Amanda Macaluso (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) adding an
assist.
It was an even game on the stat sheet as Northwestern held a 35-34
advantage in shots and a 21-18 edge in draw controls while
Vanderbilt won the ground ball battle 18-14. The Commodores did
have four more turnovers than the Wildcats, with three of them
caused by Thornton and two from Flibotte. Sophomore goalkeeper
Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) had 10 saves
between the pipes for Northwestern.
For those who missed Northwestern's championship game victory, the
Big Ten Network will re-air the title game at 9 p.m. CT tonight as
part of it's "Student U" intiative.
Northwestern now begins its quest for a sixth-straight national
championship as the NCAA tournament selections will be announced at
9 p.m. CT Sunday, May 9. The Wildcats look poised to capture one of
the top seeds, and should they be selected to host a first round
game, it will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at Lakeside Field.
