No. 2 Northwestern Opens with Win Over No. 10 Notre Dame
from press release
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Northwestern's Alex Frank (two goals) hits the turf as Notre Dame goalie Ellie Hilling (seven saves) follows the play Saturday during the Northwestern's 14-11 victory. © TD Paulius/Midwest Lacrosse Photography |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Second-ranked Northwestern
knew its season-opening test at 10th-ranked Notre Dame would be a
challenge, and it played out exactly as expected. Behind three
goals from sophomore Erin Fitzgerald (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai)
and a goal and three assists from junior Shannon Smith (West
Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon), the Wildcats prevailed 14-11 over the
Fighting Irish at the Loftus Sports Center.
"We knew coming in that this was going to be a very tough test
against a very good team, and that's exactly what it was," said
head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "I thought we did some things very
well, and there are a lot of things we need to improve on. It was a
good win and a good experience for our young team to get a victory
over a top-level team."
Eight different Wildcats found the back of the net in the season
opener, led by the hat trick for Fitzgerald and a pair each from
senior Brooke Matthews (Baltimore, Md./Friends School), juniors
Jessica Russo (Port Jefferson, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Alex Frank
(Westwood, Mass./Westwood) and sophomore Ali Cassera (Fairfield,
N.J./West Essex). Smith, sophomore Taylor Thornton (Dallas,
Texas/Hockaday School) and freshman Alyssa Leonard (Bay Shore,
N.Y./Bay Shore) each netted a goal as well for Northwestern.
Notre Dame had a few solid chances early, but a pair of saves from
Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) kept the Irish off
the scoreboard. Then the Wildcat offense came to life Russo as
notched the first goal of the season off a feed from Smith with
just over 24 minutes remaining in the half.
Matthews would tally her first of the season just two minutes
later, converting on a free position attempt. The ensuing draw was
won by Thornton, who proceeded to race downfield, move behind the
Notre Dame net, spun around an Irish defender and converted a goal
just 30 seconds later to give the Wildcats the early 3-0 lead with
21:34 remaining in the opening half.
But Notre Dame found its own offensive spark, tallying three goals
in a two minute span to knot the game at 3-3 with 19:31 remaining
in the opening half. Russo stopped the bleeding with her second of
the game, putting Northwestern back on top 4-3 less than a minute
later. Smith then fed Frank in front of the net, and the Wildcats
were back on top by two at 5-3 with just under 18 minutes to go.
Leonard then slipped a hard angle shot between the pipes for her
first career goal as NU completed its own 3-0 run, taking the lead
6-3 with 16:39 to go in the first.
After the furious start to open the game, play settled down a bit
as Smith notched her first of the year with 10:33 to play,
extending the lead to four at 7-3. A Notre Dame goal was then
answered with a goal from Fitzgerald off a long outlet pass from
Russo, pushing the lead back to four at 8-4 with 8:15 remaining in
the opening half. The Irish would add two late tallies, sending the
Wildcats to the locker room with an 8-6 lead.
Northwestern opened up the second half with its typical aggressive
attack as Frank netted her second of the game off an assist from
Smith with just 48 seconds burned off the clock. Cassera then added
a free position goal less than two minutes later as the Wildcats
went back on top by four at 10-6 early in the second half.
Notre Dame once again made a run, notching two goals in a three
minute span to cut the gap to two at 10-8 before Cassera converted
a free position to push the Wildcat lead back to three at 11-8 with
18:34 remaining in the game. Fitzgerald then converted a free
position of her own two minutes later, extending the lead back to
four at 12-8.
Once again, the Irish remained tough, notching three of the next
four goals to cut the Wildcat lead to just a pair at 13-11 with
7:27 to play, sandwiching a free position goal from Fitzgerald. But
a key free position goal by Matthews with five minutes to play
pushed Northwestern back to a three goal cushion at 14-11. LoManto
then made a pair of huge point-blank saves down the stretch for the
Wildcats, giving her nine for the game as Northwestern was able to
run out the clock and preserve the opening day victory.
Northwestern, the nation's leader in draw controls, asserted its
authority once again against Notre Dame, outdrawing the Irish 22-5,
including winning 17-straight draws during one stretch. Leonard won
a game-high six for the Wildcats with Smith, Frank and Thornton
each winning three for NU. But it was the 19 Wildcat turnovers and
Notre Dame's 16-8 edge in ground balls that helped keep the game
close.
With the victory, Northwestern improves its all-time record
against Notre Dame to 11-2 and have now won 11 consecutive games
against the Irish. The Wildcats also improved to 4-1 all-time in
South Bend and won their season opener for the fourth consecutive
season.
Northwestern continues its challenging five-game season-opening
road trip this coming weekend, traveling to the Southeast for a
pair of games against top-11 teams. The Wildcats face third-ranked
North Carolina in Chapel Hill Friday, Feb. 25, before hopping over
to Nashville, Tenn., for their American Lacrosse Conference opener
against 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Sunday, Feb. 27.
