April 20, 2008

by Jan Garrison, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

EVANSTON, Ill. - North Carolina played Northwestern at exactly the wrong place and the wrong time.

After two very close victories over Penn State (13-12) and Johns Hopkins (14-12), the No. 1-ranked Wildcats blew out the No. 11-ranked Tar Heels, 16-3, Sunday at Lakeside Field.

After Friday's come-from-behind win over Hopkins, head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said Northwestern (15-0) needed to prepare better mentally.

"That's what we needed to focus on," she said. "We need to step up the motivation. We have to be more aggressive and control the game. Every team is coming after us. We can't be back on our heels and come from behind every game."

Sunday's blowout was in stark contrast to Feb. 17, 2007 in Chapel Hill, N.C., when the Tar Heels upset the Wildcats, 9-8, in double overtime. It was the last time Northwestern lost, winning 36 straight since that game. The Wildcats also have not lost at home in 40 games, tying an NCAA record.

Hilary Bowen, Northwestern's leading scorer, said after the Hopkins game the team focused on the "little things - getting the ground balls, winning the draws, playing hard from the start and putting it all on the line all the time." "North Carolina is a great team," she added. "And we knew we needed a great game. After Hopkins, we knew we had to focus on ourselves. We had to focus on every play in the game."

The renewed focus showed from the first draw. The Wildcats scored seven goals in the first half while holding the Tar Heels scoreless. North Carolina (11-5) took only five shots, with two point-blank, free position shots snuffed out by Northwestern goalie Morgan Lathrop (eight saves).

Northwestern's determination especially showed on draw controls. The Wildcats won 15 of 20. In the first half, they scored five goals before North Carolina won its first draw.

Northwestern's vitality also forced North Carolina into 12 first-half fouls, which resulted in five free position shots, with the Wildcats scoring on three. The Tar Heels finished the game with 25 fouls, compared to 16 for the Wildcats.

When Hannah Nielsen (3g, 2a) scored her third goal on a fast break feed from Meredith Frank, the contest went to a running clock with 8:16 left in the second half.

And as much as Amonte Hiller stressed the little things since the Hopkins game, North Carolina coach Jenny Levy stressed them to her team after the game.

"Maybe, if both teams had been playing at their sharpest, it would have been a different game. Unfortunately, they were and we obviously were not. We need to execute on the details - clearing the ball, winning ground balls and making high percentage shots," she said. "When you focus on the details, that will make good things happen."

Sunday was also Senior Day for Hilary Alley, Christy Finch, Fallon McGraw, Quinn Cammarota and Lindsay North, a group that has gone 77-2, won four American Lacrosse Conference titles, and three consecutive NCCA titles over their four years.

Northwestern's victory capped its simulated "final four weekend," Amonte Hiller said. Every year, the team selects one weekend to work on its final four readiness.

"You have to win the first in order to win the second," she said. "That was our motivation."

Now with sixth-ranked Penn and the ALC tournament left before the NCAAs, the Wildcats just sent a message to every other team chasing them: they're ready for the challenge.