The Northwestern women’s lacrosse team has a lot in common withSaturday’s opponent, No. 18 Notre Dame.
Both the Wildcats (7-6) and the Fighting Irish (5-7) have a winover Connecticut and losses to Ohio State and Stanford. And bothare coming off wins against Davidson.
However, upon closer inspection, these similarities don’t meanas much.
Although NU played one of its more complete games against theHuskies, it led only 4-3 at halftime and escaped with an 8-6 win.Notre Dame led Connecticut 7-1 at halftime and cruised to a 15-7win.
The Fighting Irish lost to Ohio State by just three goals, whileNU fell to the Buckeyes by 10.
And Notre Dame lost to Stanford 14-13 in double overtime, whilethe Cats only scored one goal in the second half of their matchupwith the Cardinal — losing at home 9-5.
But none of that will matter on Saturday, when NU will belooking to build upon last week’s 14-4 win over Davidson and earnconsecutive victories for the first time since March 10.
The Cats will be trying to stifle a talented Notre Dame attackthat got off 41 shots in its last game.
“Basically we’re just looking to stop their speed early,”sophomore Abby Alley said. “Normally we play a sagging defense,where we hang around the eight-meter mark. But against (Notre Dame)we’ll pressure out a little farther, so they don’t get their speedup.”
Goalie Ashley Gersuk’s unorthodox style of play accents a quickNU defense that lets defenders bring the ball upfield. After asave, the sophomore runs the ball out of the net as she scans foran open player downfield. If Gersuk doesn’t find one, she will dumpthe ball off to a defender.
“Coach has told us defenders that if we see any opportunity fora fast break to go for it,” Alley said. “We know all the plays, sowe are comfortable in the attack.”
NU likes to play a physically intense game. Alley held PennState’s biggest offensive threat, senior Colleen O’Hara, without agoal or an assist. However, the Cats were flagged for 17 fouls andthree yellow cards in Saturday’s 12-7 loss.
But coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said that while her team playstough, it plays by the rules.
“I’d like to think that I teach my girls to play a good, cleandefense,” she said after the Penn State game.
With only three games left, a win will put the Cats in positionto make a run for the postseason. After Notre Dame, NU will be onthe road against Colgate, and it wraps up its regular season at No.11 Syracuse.
