About 18 minutes into a game against Penn State on Saturday, it looked like the No. 11 Northwestern lacrosse team’s school-record eight-game winning streak might come to an end.
No. 18 Penn State took an early 6-1 lead after quick goals off the draw, but the Wildcats were able to fight back and win, 13-11.
“We started slow,” freshman Aly Josephs said. “We were making bad passes, taking the bad shots.”
But then coach Kelly Amonte Hiller called a timeout and got her team going.
“Our girls didn’t come out with the intensity that we needed to,” Amonte Hiller said. “We took a timeout and said, ‘Hey, let’s turn this game around.'”
Goaltender Ashley Gersuk and the defense came out and shut down Penn State as the Cats (10-1, 3-0 American Lacrosse Conference) scored four unanswered goals to finish the half down by one.
Jenny Bush sparked the rally, and team scoring leader Kristen Kjellman got her first of five goals.
Josephs and Angela McMahon grabbed two quick goals in the final minute, shifting the game’s momentum and getting the team “fired up,” Lindsay Finocchiaro said.
“At halftime, Kelly was telling us that we’re better than this, and that got us pumped,” Josephs said. “We realized we needed to win this game.”
NU remains undefeated in the ALC and is in the running to win the conference’s automatic playoff berth.
“I don’t think in my head, ‘This is a conference game,’ but still, it just means more,” Josephs said.
The Cats’ newfound motivation showed when they took an 8-6 lead on goals by Kjellman, Courtney Koester and Lindsey Munday in the first seven minutes of the second half.
The teams traded a pair of goals before the Lady Lions tied the game at 10. But Kjellman scored two goals to unknot the game with less than four minutes left, and Albrecht added one more.
“Getting those couple of insurance goals was huge,” Amonte Hiller said. “Penn State has played top-ranked teams very, very tight all season long, although their record doesn’t show the caliber of their team or their strength of schedule.”
Penn State (3-9, 1-2 ALC) boasts the second-ranked defense in the ALC, right behind NU’s.
Penn State goaltender Lee Tortorelli, who had 15 saves against the Cats, is second only to Gersuk in the conference.
“The only way we come out ahead in a game like this is a great team game,” Amonte Hiller said. “We had contributions from everyone, and it was a lot of heart from these girls to make it happen.”
The Cats face an even more formidable opponent in today’s game against No. 2 Notre Dame.
“(Amonte Hiller) said we need to shake them up and come out with fire,” Finocchiaro said. “She said we can’t come out slow, because we’ll get burned and they’ll kill us.”
The Fighting Irish (10-1) had their school-record 14-game winning streak snapped Saturday with a loss to No. 5 Georgetown.
Notre Dame’s attack is second in the nation, averaging 13.7 goals per game, while its average of eight goals allowed is ninth, right behind NU’s.
Meredith SiMonday, whose 50 points leads the Fighting Irish, was nominated Monday for the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top collegiate lacrosse player in the country.
