Northwestern Win Sets Up Dream Final with Terps
by Nelson Coffin | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | NCAA Semifinals Blog
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Northwestern's Danielle Spencer towers over her North Carolina opponents on the draw Saturday during the WIldcats' 15-10 victory in the NCAA semifinals at Towson. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
TOWSON, Md. -- Forget the 34 goals produced in
the first North Carolina-Northwestern meeting in April, when
nothing was on the line other than pride and an eye on playoff
seedings.
The Tar Heels edged the Wildcats, 18-16, on April 18, avenging a
21-7 drubbing in the 2009 NCAA title game.
Friday night, the two powerhouse were much more, it could be said,
guarded in the nightcap of the national semifinal doubleheader at
Johnny Unitas Stadium, where the second-seeded Wildcats pulled away
to a 15-10 victory over the third-seeded Heels.
Northwestern will meet top-seeded Maryland, a 14-5 winner over
Syracuse in the other semifinal, for the NCAA Division I
championship at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday at the same site.
Coincidentally, Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was the
1995 and 1996 National Player of the Year as Terp and played on the
same team with current Maryland coach Cathy Reese.
None of that will matter on Sunday, though, as sentiment will be
an afterthought when the Terps and Wildcats tangle.
To get there, Northwestern had to survive a sluggish first half in
which the defenses dominated. Neither UNC nor Northwestern were
able to find an offensive flow until they combined to score four
goals in the final 2:25 — including three in the last 27
seconds — to turn a 2-2 deadlock into a 4-4 tie at the
intermission.
Once warmed up, however, the rivals began to find the net more
frequently in the second half, especially Northwestern (20-1),
which earned many more opportunities on senior Danielle Spencer's
draw controls, many of which she snatched before the ball hit the
ground. With her eight draw controls, the senior from Rochester,
N.Y. became the fifth player to eclipse 100 draws in a season.
"It's hard to score games when someone named Danielle Spencer kept
winning draws," North Carolina coach Jenny Levy said. "I thought
that was the key to the game. We tried everything. We zoned it,
changed personnel, but she kept drawing [the ball] to herself. We
thought we had a pretty good chance if the ball hit the ground, but
she kept getting it."
The Wildcats jumped out to several three-goal leads early in the
second period, forcing UNC (17-3) to play catch-up against the
five-time defending champs.
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The first rule of Project Mayhem: don't ask questions. |
After Carolina rallied to within 10-9 on the second of Corey
Donohoe's goals — breaking Kellie Thompson's single-season
school points record in the process — Shannon Smith answered
for the Wildcats.
Leading, 11-9, with 12:31 to go, Northwestern went to its
cat-and-mouse slowdown, bringing the game to a crawl while
simultaneously wearing down Carolina's defense.
"They were possessing the ball a lot," Donohoe said after
finishing with 77 points in a standout junior campaign. "And that
tires out the defense."
And with Spencer grabbing draws, the prospect of a Carolina
comeback grew dimmer as the clock wound down.
Alexandra Frank, Brooke Matthews, Katrina Dowd and Erin Fitzgerald
scored four of the last five goals as the Wildcats pulled away.
"I have a lot of respect for Cathy [Reese]," said Amonte Hiller.
"They have a really athletic midfield and play great team defense.
We're excited to play them."
Dowd, Fitzgerald and Spencer scored three goals apiece for the
winners. Smith, Frank and Matthews had two apiece for the
'Cats.
Laura Zimmerman led Carolina with three goals while Donohoe and
Megan Bosica had two apiece. Kristen Taylor, Kristen Carr and Becky
Lynch each scored once for the Heels.
