Northwestern is No. 1 in the nation for a reason: goals. A lot of them.
In eight games this season, NU has outscored its opponents 139-56 – winning by an average of more than 10 goals per game. Only one other team in the nation, Drexel, has a higher scoring margin.
“We have our entire offense back from last year, not one kid graduated, so that’s huge,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “I think more than ever we are really explosive off the transition, and we are very deceptive. We are equally good at passing as we are at going one on one. When you have a group like that, it’s pretty special and it’s hard to defend against.”
The Wildcats are also the highest scoring team in the nation. With an average of 17.4 goals per game, simple arithmetic explains why their potent offense has equated into a perfect record.
That offense is led by midfielder Kristen Kjellman, a junior. Kjellman is third in the country in points per game with an average of 5.8. She is also sixth in the nation with an average of 3.8 goals per game.
“Now that we have a few seasons under our belt playing together, we have meshed really well,” Kjellman said. “Everyone knows each other’s style of play, and we have now come together and everything is clicking.”
Kjellman also has had the benefit of playing alongside senior midfielder Lindsay Munday, who averages 2.8 assists per game, a mark that places her second in the NCAA.
However, it is not just the offense that gets involved. The defense is ranked sixth among all scoring defenses.
Amonte Hiller said she gave the defense a quota of scoring one goal per game and is confident that they will reach that mark.
“There is no reason why [the defense] shouldn’t be able to score,” Amonte Hiller said. “They are very skilled and very competent, so we are looking for them to step up.”
The Cats will try to sharpen their offensive skills as they travel to No. 13 Syracuse on Friday and Connecticut on Sunday.
AWARDS PILING IN
For the second consecutive week, an NU player has been named the American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week.
Junior attacker Aly Josephs took the honor last week after a six-goal performance against then-No. 14 Notre Dame on March. 19.
This time, Munday received the ALC award for consecutive four-goal, four-assist efforts against California and then-No. 18 Stanford.
“It’s definitely nice to get an honor like this,” Munday said. “Many people set me up a bunch on fast-break goals that I wouldn’t have gotten if other people hadn’t busted their butts to get the ball up the field. Opportunities came and I was lucky to connect on them.”
Munday’s offensive explosion vaulted her into the NU record books. She is now the fourth NU player to reach 200 career points.
Against Stanford, Munday tallied her 100th career assist, making her NU’s all-time assist leader and only the 26th person ever to reach that milestone in Division I history.
“It’s a testament to the depth of our attack and our midfield,” Munday said. “We have so many threats that it’s a different person stepping up every game, and I think it’s really hard for opposing defenses to come up and mark us because we have so many people who are threats to score.”
This is the third time Munday has received this award in her career.
BRING ON THE WEATHER
The Cats moved outside this week to practice on their game field at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex and Trienens Hall for the first time this season.
Spring football practice has begun at the artificial turf practice field near Ryan Field, so as long as the weather remains dry, the Cats will continue practicing outdoors on the lakeside field.
Although they have to travel to the Carrier Dome on Friday, Amonte Hiller said she wanted to prepare the team for grass play since most of their remaining games will be outside on grass.
The biggest game on the radar is at No. 2 Duke next Friday, which will be played on a grass surface.
Reach Steve Silver at [email protected].
