May 17, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the fourth-straight season, the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Final Four will have to deal with a pack of Wildcats, as top-seeded Northwestern dominated 10th-ranked Princeton 18-11 at Lakeside Field to advance to the semifinals in Towson, Md. The 19-1 `Cats, who notched their 14th-consecutive NCAA tournament victory, will get their much-anticipated rematch with Syracuse Friday.

"We knew that we would need a complete team effort today, and that is exactly what we got," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "Everyone came ready to play today, and you could tell early on that they were ready to go."

It certainly was a complete team effort for the Wildcats with juniors Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) and Casey Donohoe (Jarrettsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) and sophomore Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) each tallying three goals in the quarterfinal victory. Bowen and Nielsen also added a pair of assists each, with Dowd recording a helper of her own.

Northwestern set the tone early, as goals by Donohoe, Bowen and Nielsen gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead before the Tigers (13-5) were able to get the ball into their offensive zone. After Princeton finally got on the board to cut the lead to 3-1, a pair of goals from Dowd and another from freshman Brooke Matthews (Baltimore, Md./Friends School) continued the `Cat attack, giving NU a 6-1 advantage with 18 minutes remaining in the first half. The Tigers would respond with back-to-back goals, trimming the Northwestern lead to a workable 6-3 advantage. But the Wildcats' goal was to take away any doubt early, and did just that with a five goal outburst over a six minute span, including a highlight reel-worthy, behind-the-back goal from Donohoe off a feed from Nielsen.

"Those come easy for her and it was nice to see her get the chance," said Nielsen. "In practice, when everyone else is getting water, she's out there practicing those type of shots, and today she finally got a chance to use it."

Seeing her first action since early in the first half in the ALC Championship game, sophomore Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) returned to her scoring ways, netting a goal with just over a minute left in the half to help give NU an 11-4 halftime lead and get the Towson travel plans in the works.

It was more of the same in the second half, as after a Princeton goal cut Northwestern's lead to 11-5, the Wildcats would embark on their second streak of five unanswered goals on the afternoon, leading by as many as 11 at 16-5. The Tigers would outscore the `Cats 6-2 over the last 15 minutes to make the final score more respectable, but it was an afternoon that belonged to Northwestern.

With the home field win, the Wildcats extended their NCAA record home-field winning streak to 44 games, giving a special distinction to the NU seniors. The five `Cats in the class of 2008 finished their collegiate career having never lost a single game in Evanston, with an overall home record of 43-0. Playing in her final home game, senior Christy Finch (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) caused four Tiger turnovers, giving her 181 for her career and moving her into fourth-place in the NCAA record book.

Nielsen and Bowen continued to be the driving force for the Wildcat offense, as Bowen recorded a goal in her 38th consecutive game while she and Nielsen extended their consecutive point streaks to 42 games. Bowen became just the third player in NU history to record 70 goals in a single season, as her 72 is now tied with Kristen Kjellman's 2006 output for the second-best single-season performance. She heads to Towson aiming for Kate Oleykowski's 76 goal performance in 1987.

Spencer and Matthews each finished with two goals apiece for the Wildcats while junior Ali Jacobs (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) notched a goal as well. Junior Caitlin Jackson (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) finished off the scoring for NU by tallying her first career goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the contest. Junior goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop (Briarcliff, N.Y./The Hackley School) recorded seven saves in net for the `Cats.

Now for Northwestern, it's a return to familiar ground against a familiar foe. The Wildcats will meet fifth-seeded Syracuse (18-2) in the semifinals Friday, May 23. The Orange held off North Carolina 13-11 to advance to the final four and will be looking for some payback after a 19-7 defeat at the paws of the `Cats back on March 25. The loss to Northwestern is the last time Syracuse has tasted defeat, having won its last 11 games, including the Big East championship. Gametime against the Orange is set for 5 p.m. CT Friday, May 23, at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md.