Northwestern lacrosse player Hannah Whitman has been friendswith Alex Nolan for 10 years, and she still laughs about how herhigh school teammates made fun of Nolan’s particularly highponytail.

But things didn’t start off so well when the two joined theirsecond-grade lacrosse team.

“When we first met each other, we didn’t get along,” saidWhitman, a freshman. “We had a fight over the lyrics to ‘Annie.’ Itwas some stupid second-grade thing.”

They later became friends, and both played for the Roland ParkCountry high school team in Baltimore.

The two will take the field together again Sunday — but thistime on opposing teams. Whitman will play for the No. 11 Wildcats,and Nolan will be wearing the blue and white of No. 9 JohnsHopkins.

It won’t be the first time the two have played against eachother. Over the summer, Whitman and Nolan played on rival clubteams.

“Before the game we were friends, and after the game we werefriends,” she said. “But on the field we definitely were not.”

The women still talk occasionally, and Whitman said she is eagerto catch up on old times with Nolan. Whitman said she also iscurious to see if her friend’s playing style has changed on her newteam.

“I think Johns Hopkins has had a great year,” Whitman said.”They’ve come out of their shell a little bit.”

Whitman could say the same thing about her own team. In fact,the two clubs could not be more similar.

Johns Hopkins (11-2) is ranked two spots above NU (11-1). Bothteams are undefeated in the American Lacrosse Conference, puttingthem in the hunt for the conference’s automatic playoff berth. TheCats are 3-0 and the Cardinals are 4-0 in the ALC.

Each team has an explosive offense led by a breakout freshman.The Blue Jays’ offense edges out the Cats’ for No. 1 in theconference, but both offenses are ranked in the top 10 nationally.The two teams each have seven players with double-digitscoring.

NU’s Kristen Kjellman has earned 45 points and was named Mondayto insidelacrosse.com’s national honor roll for the second time inthree weeks. But Johns Hopkins’ Mary Key is ninth in the nation inscoring with 60 points.

NU’s defense is No. 1 in the ALC, but Johns Hopkins’ netminderLauren Riddick leads the conference in goals against average. NU’sAshley Gersuk is second.

“Our strength lies in our defense as of late,” coach KellyAmonte Hiller said. “If we can hold teams to five, six goals, youknow you’re going to be successful.”

In such an even matchup, Amonte Hiller said, the small thingsare going to turn the game. She said her players will focus on drawcontrols and ground balls, which were crucial in tight games.

“Our goal is still the same: to get better each time we step onthe field,” Amonte Hiller said. “That’s going to be our main focuson Sunday.”