When she’s not perfecting her dance moves playing the video game Dance Dance Revolution, freshman goalie Morgan Lathrop is using her quick feet and energetic personality to help lead No. 1 Northwestern to a perfect 8-0 record.
“[Lathrop] is definitely a firecracker,” assistant coach and goaltender specialist Alexis Venechanos said.
That 5-foot-5 firecracker can be heard shouting commands to the defense during practice from the opposite end of the field.
“My friends would definitely say I like to get my voice heard,” Lathrop said. “So I would say I am pretty aggressive and competitive, which translates into my play on the field.”
That type of assertiveness is what coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said has helped her have so much success.
In seven starts, Lathrop has allowed 43 goals, with the nation’s eighth best goals against average of 7.1. She is also 20th in save percentage, stopping more than 52 percent of all the shots she sees.
“[Lathrop] has a personality where she is not afraid to put herself out there,” Amonte Hiller said. “She is very confident in her own abilities and her own self. When you have a goaltender that is like that it gives confidence to the defense too. Her style of communication has definitely helped spark us.”
Lathrop began playing goalie in ninth grade because it was an open position and her friends asked her to fill-in.
“You definitely have to be a bit crazy to play goalie,” Lathrop said. “It can hurt sometimes, but that is part of the position. I guess goalies are just used to pain.”
Even with the pain, Lathrop stayed in goal and had nothing but success. She led her high school, The Hackley School in Briarcliff, N.Y., to four Ivy League championships and two New York State Independent Schools titles in 2004 and 2005.
She then had the daunting task of entering into NU’s reigning NCAA championship program and had to wait for her time in between the pipes.
Sophomore Abby Bangser, who saw some playing time during last year’s title run, started the first game of the season against then-No. 9 Maryland. The Wildcats won 13-8.
“Bangser really proved herself in the preseason and in the Maryland game she did a decent job, but we weren’t really set on what our choice was going to be,” Amonte Hiller said. “We told them they needed to push it in practice, and that next week Morgan really distinguished herself. So we gave her an opportunity and she really stepped up. She was huge in the next game and made us a keep her as a starter.”
Both Amonte Hiller and Venechanos said they have seen nothing but healthy competition between the two goalies and believe that they are both valuable to the program.
Bangser, who knows Lathrop can learn from her past experiences, understands that she must help guide Lathrop and at the same time compete with her in order to benefit the team.
“Yes, we are competing for a position, but at the same time neither of us can succeed if the competition becomes negative,” Bangser said. “She is very good at low balls and she is much quicker. But I do have the strength in clearing and positioning within the goal. I think it helps to play off each other and to really push each other to improve so our weaknesses become strengths.”
For now, Lathrop is supposed to start today against No. 13 Syracuse. However, neither Amonte Hiller nor Venechanos would comment on whether or not Bangser would have the opportunity to start in front of her home town crowd at Connecticut on Sunday.
Bangser grew up in West Hartford, Conn., which is about 40 minutes from UConn. The local youth league near Bangser’s home is taking a bus to the game.
“I am really excited to go home,” Bangser said. “A lot of my family and friends will be there. Plus, I am going to get some of my grandma’s soup.”
Although Lathrop currently has the starting job, both goalies know a switch could be made at any time.
“[Lathrop] has been very humble with her position and has handled the pressure really well,” Amonte Hiller said. “I think [Bangser] and her have worked well together, so it has been a great situation so far.
“But nothing is set in stone. We are really looking to see who is best on that specific day.”
Reach Steve Silver at [email protected].
