Lowering her head while grabbing a microphone, Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller wanted to make sure the gathered media heard what she was about to say. A reporter asked if she used her team’s low seeding in the NCAA tournament to motivate her players. Her reply: “Absolutely.”
After No. 1-ranked but fourth-seeded NU dismantled Stanford 17-9 in the opening round of the tournament on Sunday, Stanford senior Megan Burker said the motivation worked.
“They just seemed much more ready to play from the first whistle this time than over Spring Break when we played them,” she said.
Enough with this talk of an East Coast bias – the NCAA tournament selection committee obviously wanted NU to repeat as national champions. There is no logical explanation for seeding the best team in the country fourth besides providing extra inspiration.
It’s a good thing the NCAA thought to do that, because NU really needed the help. The Cats only won six games in a row going into the tournament, eking out those contests by an average of more than nine goals.
And it’s not like this team is tournament-tested, as it has only been the NCAA tournament three years in a row with a national championship under it’s belt, so the committee showed a lot of foresight to realize they would have to seed the Cats low or they wouldn’t have the drive to win.
If Sunday’s contest against Stanford is any indication, the seven remaining tournament teams don’t stand a chance. NU seemed as focused as it has all season, and it was clear Stanford didn’t belong on the same field as the Cats. But then again, NU has proved over the last two years to everyone (but apparently not the selection committee members), only a team or two in the country can stick with this group.
NU’s familiarity with its opponents on the road to a repeat is also sure to help, as the Cats had already played Stanford, their next opponent, North Carolina, and probable Final Four nemesis, Duke this season.
“I just try to choose the toughest schedule we can so that maybe we can get a high seed in the tournament, but that obviously doesn’t make a difference,” said Amonte Hiller, laughing.
So with the “help” of the NCAA, will NU duplicate its national championship performance of last year?
Absolutely.
Sports columnist Abe Rakov is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
