By Steve SilverThe Daily Northwestern
After watching No. 1 Northwestern turn its grip on the women’s lacrosse world into a suffocating stranglehold with a 12-7 thrashing of No. 2 Maryland on Monday evening, I strolled onto the field to interview NU’s players and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.
Only this was no typical women’s sports interview where, the college newspaper reporter and the team’s Sports Information Director huddle around the coach for five minutes.
This was a full-blown media frenzy of Dice-K proportions.
I’ll be the first to admit that the media is often wrong about many matters, but this week the local sports media got it right – NU’s women’s lacrosse team is not only the best in the country, it is probably one of the best in the sport’s history and it deserves as much attention as any other sport at NU.
Sure, the statistics don’t lie.
The Cats (12-1, 3-0 American Lacrosse Conference) have the nation’s best scoring offense (16.7 goals per game) and scoring defense (6 gpg), which have helped them outscore opponents 196-73, an average differential of 10.73 goals per game.
They also happen to have the nation’s top goalie in sophomore Morgan Lathrop, who owns a 5.81 goals-against average.
But as the Cats themselves will tell you, those are only numbers.
What makes this year’s team so good is that it plays angry. It plays as if a chip the size of the world is on its shoulders. And more importantly, despite winning two consecutive NCAA titles, Amonte Hiller and her players still feel as if they have something to prove to the East Coast lacrosse elite.
Remember that a final season ranking of No.1 in the polls landed them a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament last year. That’s right math majors: They got screwed and they won’t soon forget it.
“We have to take care of business with every game that we play … because if we have a slip-up, you know how easy they like to take it away from us,” Amonte Hiller said after her team demoralized then-No. 4 Duke 17-5 on April 7. “So we have no room for error.”
It’s that desire for perfection that still has the Cats harping on their only loss of the season – a double-overtime 9-8 loss to open the season against No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill more than two months ago.
Senior attacker Aly Josephs is quick to point out that a rematch wouldn’t end the same way.
“I can’t even put into words how much better we are (since the UNC loss),” Josephs said. ” … I think it would be a really good game if we played them again.”
For the first time in my three years of covering NU sports, I believe what an athlete says.
Josephs is right. The Cats do continue to get better and they are more than likely going to leave Philadelphia in May with a third NCAA title, a feat last accomplished by the Maryland team of the 1990s for which Amonte Hiller played.
But what happens after that? How do you replace a supreme talent like Kristen Kjellman? Who could possibly run as fast as Josephs? Who else has the uncanny defensive ability to cause turnovers like Christy Finch or Lindsay Finocchiaro? And who else can provide the innate leadership ability of Kristen Boege?
You have to look no further than the current roster.
The Cats’ top two goal scorers, Meredith Frank (35) and Hilary Bowen (33), are sophomores. Their leader in assists, Hannah Nielsen (35), who is also fourth with 28 goals, is a sophomore too. Nielsen and Bowen actually quarterback the offense as the attackers placed behind the net to feed cutting shooters.
Oh, remember that nation’s top goalie, Lathrop? Yeah, she is a sophomore too.
Needless to say, the Cats are deep and the future is bright with freshmen Danielle Spencer and Katrina Dowd already making their presence felt, combining for 14 goals and five assists.
“We just have so much talent all over the field,” Kjellman said Monday. “We are going to be hard to stop.”
Let me be the first to say, “Yes. Yes you will.”
Assistant sports editor Steve Silver is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
