After an impressive freshman season, scoring 15 goals and 32 points, Northwestern forward Kelsey Hans is gunning for a new title this year–sophomore sensation.
Hans began this season with four goals and 11 points in the first six games, helping the Wildcats to a 5-1-0 start.
“It’s just been exciting to watch her,” said coach Jenny Haigh. “She’s really been an inspiring force for our team. She? completely been a handful.”
Hans either has scored or assisted on half of the Cats’ 14 goals, including posting four goals and two assists in last weekend’s two-game sweep of the Wildcat Classic against Oakland and Davidson.
Hans’ performance earned her a place on the Soccer Buzz National Elite Team of the Week, a first for the NU women’s soccer team.
When Hans didn’t finish the job, her teammates did.
With time ticking down in the overtime period against Oakland, Hans broke through the defense and rocketed a shot at the goal. The ball rebounded off the goalkeeper and landed at forward Tabitha Lowey’s feet.
“I knew I was going to finish it,” Lowey said. “I could hear the clock counting down in my head.”
Lowey’s finish hit the back of the net with only two seconds left in overtime.
“I was just kind of in shock,” she said. “I looked up and saw the entire bench running at us. It was a good indicator of the season to come.”
Haigh said the focus on the team aspect of the game is instrumental in the maturation of a young team, with four freshmen regularly in the starting lineup.
“We’re competing and learning and growing as a group,” she said. “I feel like this team is not just 11 starters.”
The Cats faced a challenge besides introducing new talent to the college game–road matches. NU was 1-6-0 on the road last year and began this season with four games in Wisconsin and Texas.
The team responded by winning three.
“That was a key to our success, being able to find some important ones on the road,” Haigh said. “It’s something we struggled with last year.”
NU will have to do without co-captain Shannon Schneeman for the entire season after she tore her ACL in the last week of spring practice.
Schneeman said she is trying to fulfill her duties as a captain even if she can’t be on the field with her team.
“Our team’s so young that we have a lot of questions and need a lot of encouragement,” she said. “I try to be a positive re-inforcer.”
Schneeman is in the early stages of rehab and is “trying to do what [she] can.”
Lowey said this adversity is integral in shaping the team’s character.
“It’s a whole different story this year,” she said. “We’ve faced a lot of difficult challenges and still been able to overcome them.”
The Cats face regional opponent Central Michigan on Friday.
Haigh stressed the importance of the game and said the team needed to establish itself against regional opponents before entering the Big Ten season.
“They’re going to really come out after us,” she said. “I’ve heard they’re an aggressive, hard-nosed team that just battles the whole game and sometimes those are the toughest teams to beat.”
With their physical style, it seems the Chippewas might provide a good test for the extent of the Cats’ early-season resilience. CMU is in the midst of a three-game losing streak and is desperate for a win.
Haigh said her team has the mindset to thrive in this situation.
“This team has more of a winning expectation and plays with a little more confidence,” she said. “It’s got a really good attitude, a really good energy.”
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