Senior midfielder Hannah Nielsen has already rewritten the record books in her Northwestern career. But in Tuesday’s 20-6 blasting of Duquesne, Nielsen did something she had never done before: reach double digits in assists.
She had 10 for the game, setting both school and personal records and moving into second place in NCAA career assists. Her 12 points, nine of which came before halftime, were also a career best.
During the game, Nielsen was not even aware of the record totals she was compiling.
“I don’t keep track of it on the field,” she said. “But you know when things are coming together and today on attack things just started flowing for us.”
NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller did not see her star player’s historic display. The coach missed the game for personal reasons.
Nielsen’s teammates, who are hard to impress because they watch her dominate day in and day out, knew they were witnessing something special by the second half.
“Hannah puts up assists like that every day in practice, so I’m used to seeing her make those great plays,” junior attacker Danielle Spencer said. “But I did notice it towards the end of the game. I talked to another girl and we were like, ‘Wow, how many assists does Hannah have today?'”
The rest of the game was remarkably similar to the previous year’s contest between the two squads. Spencer and senior attacker Hilary Bowen each contributed five goals on Tuesday, just as they did in the 21-6 victory last March. The four goals scored by senior attacker Casey Donohoe also matched her output from that game, and the 14-goal NU halftime lead was identical.
The game was all but over in the first 2:13, during which the Cats (2-0) scored three quick goals before the Dukes (0-2) knew what hit them.
“We always think that’s really important, just to set the tone of the game right from the first whistle,” Spencer said. “What we like to do is play hard right from the beginning and try to not let the other team get a chance to breathe.”
When Duquesne’s Meghan Frederick converted her free position shot to cut the margin to 3-1, NU acted quickly to stay comfortably ahead.
Bowen picked up her second goal of the game just 14 second later to thwart the short-lived threat. It was the first of 12 straight NU goals to close out the first half.
“We can’t let teams get one or two or three goals in a row because that really helps them get momentum,” Nielsen said. “As soon as they got that goal in, we were able to go on a bit of a run after that.”
The lead grew to 19-2 midway through the second half, and by then Cats’ senior goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop had already been replaced.
The Cats stressed the little things like draw controls and ground ball pickups going into the game, and overall they excelled in those areas. They held a 16-9 advantage in ground balls, one of which was collected and turned into a goal seconds later, and a 16-8 edge in draws.
The defense also continued to make strides, limiting Duquesne to just five shots – only two of which were on goal – in the opening 30 minutes. For the game, NU caused 15 turnovers.
“We’re trying to be really aggressive,” Spencer said. “I think sometimes that’s a little bit of a surprise for other teams when they’re tired of running it down the field and we can come out with fresh legs.”
