She speaks softly, but…

…Cats’ freshman carries more than a big stick

By Courtney McCarty

The Daily Northwestern

Three must be Kristen Kjellman’s lucky number.

In the past three weeks, the lacrosse player received three awards, played three spectacular games and became the team’s top scorer with 33 points.

Not to mention the three sports teams she captained in high school.

But you can barely get Kjellman to talk for three minutes about herself before she changes the subject to her team’s recent success.

But don’t think Kjellman goes around announcing her honors, like making the insidelacrosse.com National Honor roll to join the list of the week’s eight elite collegiate players. Kjellman’s awards continue to grow more prestigious — womenslacrosse.com’s Rookie of the Week on March 24 and American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week on March 29.

“Humble” is the word her father, coach and teammates used to describe her.

“She’s never been one to jump into the limelight,” said Bob Kjellman, Kristen’s father.

Nobody else boasts about her awards either. Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said personal awards are not mentioned to teammates, as individual efforts are not the team’s focus. Bob Kjellman said he is even afraid of the awards, thinking they may jinx his daughter’s performance.

Instead, the honors make Kjellman work even harder, feeling the pressure of national recognition.

“I put pressure on myself knowing that I have to rise up to expectations and get better every day, ” Kjellman said.

Kjellman appears to be meeting her goal to improve. Scoring only one or two goals in her first four games, Kjellman was disappointed in her first NU performances.

“She (told me), ‘Dad, I’m not playing up to my level, the level I know I can play,'” Bob Kjellman said.

Kjellman’s game hit the upswing March 20 at Colgate with three goals and three assists. Her goals tied both regulation and the third and final overtime period in the March 24 game against Delaware, and she scored the final three in a tight 12-11 win over Virginia Tech. Notching a team season-high eight goals Sunday against Connecticut, Kjellman continued her scoring rampage.

Kjellman said she did not want her teammates to think she was overly confident or trying to take on too big a role.

Amonte Hiller said the team lacked a go-to scorer in the first few games, and once Kjellman recognized that need, she knew she could fill that role.

“(Kristen) doesn’t want to show anyone up,” she said. “I think she was unsure if she she could should go after it hard.

“Once she saw that’s what we needed, she went for it.”

Kjellman is going for it, becoming the team’s main offensive threat with a team-leading 25 goals. Teammate Emily Lovett says Kjellman is “hungry for goals.”

Kjellman has potent offensive skills, “tremendous speed” and great shooting abilities, to back up that hunger, said her coach.

Amonte Hiller mentioned Kjellman’s 80 percent shooting percentage against Connecticut, calling it “absurdly high.”

Teammate Lindsay Finocchiaro says Kjellman’s recent scoring tears have given the team much-needed momentum.

“When we needed the go-ahead goal, she got us going,” said Finocchiaro. “She gets the team fired up.”

That’s what Kjellman wants. Although she’ll accept her personal awards, her team’s success is more important to her.

Kjellman said she tries to get her teammates involved and to give them confidence.

Amonte Hiller said her teammates listen to her because the team is so young and because of her “serious love of the game.”

“I don’t mind getting attention, but I just enjoy playing the game,” Kjellman said. “I don’t care if I get athlete of the week or I don’t. I just like to play.”