The last time Northwestern played Rutgers, the Wildcats held a comfortable 13-8 lead with a little more than six minutes on the clock.
But then the Scarlet Knights, playing in their 2004 home opener, rallied back with quick goals to knot the game at 13-13.
NU’s Lindsey Munday was playing in front of her family in her home state, and with 57 seconds remaining, she scored on a quick unassisted shot to give her team a win that would start its 13-game win streak.
The goal was just one example of the scoring prowess that Munday has shown throughout her playing career at NU and is especially proving this spring.
Munday and the No. 1 Cats (8-0) will meet the Scarlet Knights again this weekend, when both Rutgers (3-4) and Connecticut (5-2) travel to Evanston. NU beat both opponents last season, and the teams will have to face a tougher NU team, which boasts the nation’s second-best offense and fifth-best defense.
Munday, a junior, is a large part of the Cats’ offensive success this season. Munday leads the team with 21 goals and 20 assists for 41 points — 11 more than NU’s next-highest scorer.
Munday is third in the nation with 5.13 points per game, and tied for second in the nation with 2.5 assists per game.
She has scored four or more points in each of the Cats’ eight games this season, and has been named womenslacrosse.com National Player of the Week and American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week.
But don’t expect Munday to take any credit for her scoring success. Like her teammates, she’ll say her own scoring is just part of the strong effort from her team’s attacking unit.
And the NU attack has done well only because of the Cats’ defense, Munday said. The defense has excelled at causing turnovers and has held opponents to an average of 6.2 goals per game.
“I think the defense should get a lot of credit, because they’re playing so well and are getting the ball to us,” Munday said. “It makes us want to capitalize for them. It’s like their goal.”
As a freshman, Munday led the Cats in scoring with 28 points, after capitalizing in each of the season’s final 11 games. Last season, her 39 points put her at fourth in team scoring. Each season, she was named a second-team All-ALC selection.
The speedy Munday, who in high school captained three sports and was voted the best female athlete at her school, has played every game since she arrived at NU and has started all but two.
That much playing time has helped mature her game and unite her attacking unit, Munday said.
“It definitely helps that our attack has been playing together for two, if not three years,” Munday said. “It gives us those connections on the field.
“There are times I just know when someone’s going to cut, and I know what certain people want to do with the ball.”
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