Boston — Despite scoring a season-low seven goals, despite getting no points from Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Kristen Kjellman for the first time in almost two years after nearly losing her due to an injury and despite being down at the half for just the third time this season, the Wildcats prevailed.
Behind four goals from junior Aly Josephs, Northwestern (20-1) defeated Dartmouth (14-6) 7-4 to win its second-consecutive national championship Sunday in Boston. The Cats defeated Virginia 13-10 last year to claim NU’s first NCAA Championship since 1941.
Sunday’s win also marks the first time in school history that any NU team has won back-to-back NCAA titles.
“Even though we haven’t been down this season, I think our characteristic is we’re fighters,” NUcoach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “And I was kind of pleased that we saw some adversity and we weredown in certain situations because it shows that we had that fight in us no matter if we were up or down.”
Attacker Sarah Albrecht, who was named the tournament’s MVP, provided the necessary spark for theCats early in the second half. The senior captain scored NU’s first two goals of the period andshot the Cats back into the game.
The victory came after what was nearly a disastrous first half for NU. The Cats dominated thepossession battle for the first seven-plus minutes of play before a Dartmouth fastbreak led to thefirst score of the game, a goal from junior Whitney Douthett with 22:16 to go in the first half.
Three minutes later, Cats senior Lindsey Munday tied it at one, scoring off a pass from freshmanMeredith Frank.
Junior Aly Josephs gave NU its first lead at 14:40, as her unassisted goal put the Cats up 2-1. But Dartmouth countered quickly, with two straight scores from Casey Hazel and Jen Pittman as the BigGreen entered halftime up 3-2.
“We had a gameplan, and we weren’t really sticking to it,” Josephs said. “So I think we justfocused in at halftime. Kelly told us what we needed to do, and I think we executed really well onour shots and limited our turnovers (in the second half).”
NU became well-acquainted with Dartmouth’s goal post in the first half, just missing the back ofthe net five times. The near-misses led to the Cats scoring a season-low two goals in the first.
The low point of the first half for NU undoubtedly came when Kjellman had to be helped off the field with 1:05 left after sustaining a right ankle sprain. Unable to walk to the locker room at halftime, the junior had to be carried much of the way.
Fortunately for the Cats, Kjellman reappeared on the field early in the second half.
NU struck first to start the second on an Albrecht goal. The senior, whose Friday night heroics in the NCAA semifinals led to the game-winning goal against Duke in overtime, scored under two minutes into the half to tie the game at three.
Dartmouth soon avenged the goal, as junior Sarah Szefi put the Big Green ahead 4-3 with 24:49 to go. But Albrecht answered for NU, notching her second goal of the half and tying the game 4-4.
A little more than a minute later, the Cats were on the attack again. Josephs was looking for Albrecht in front of the net, but her pass sailed just high … and bounced right past Dartmouth goalie Devon Wills for a goal.
“That was just fluky,” Wills said. “I wish I could have it back, but it could have been the swing of the game.”
Josephs chose a more conventional route for her next shot, scoring on a pass from Albrecht to put NU up two for the first time on the day. The junior added a fourth with 1:23 remaining, giving the Cats a 7-4 lead and securing the victory.
The Cats bore down on the Dartmouth offense in the second half, holding the Big Green to one goal and none within the game’s final 20 minutes. Freshman Morgan Lathrop, coming off a 10-save game against Duke, anchored the NU defense with two stops.
“They really flustered out attackers,” Wills said. “They knew how to get us out of our rhythm.”
After the game, the NU players and coaches received their championship trophy. Roars of “Let’s go Cats!” filled Nickerson Field, the NU faithful turning much of the packed stadium purple for one afternoon. The attendance of 5,684 was an NCAA women’s lacrosse championship record.
As most of the NU community was getting over Dillo Day and preparing for finals, the women’s lacrosse team was celebrating its championship and, perhaps, thinking about another trip to the White House.
Will they don flip-flops once again?
“I don’t know,” Amonte Hiller said. “Maybe we’ll wear some cowboy boots.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
