The Wildcats were playing in their first game after winning a second straight national championship.
Ranked first in the country and opening the season on the road against then-No. 4 North Carolina, Northwestern entered the half with a 6-4 advantage. But the Tar Heels tied up the game with one minute to play, going on to win in double overtime.
The Cats have not forgotten.
“We still feel that from two years ago,” senior midfielder Casey Donohoe said. “There’s only been three teams that have beaten us in my four years here, so having that extra fire under us makes it a little easier to get motivated.”
No. 1 NU (3-0) returns to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sunday for the first time since that defeat. Last year, the Cats throttled the Tar Heels 16-3 at Lakeside Field.
The rivalry between the two teams is one of the fiercest in women’s lacrosse. NU’s freshmen and sophomores, who were not a part of the loss, understand how seriously everyone takes it.
“The way we talk about UNC, Duke, Penn – even the girls who weren’t here when we lost to them can tell how much we don’t want them to beat us again,” Donohoe said.
The No. 8 Tar Heels are not the only top team the Cats have to worry about this weekend.
NU kicks off its American Lacrosse Conference schedule on Friday against No. 10 Vanderbilt, who finished runner-up in the conference last year and is predicted to do so again this season.
“Conference is the most important thing,” senior attacker Meredith Frank said. “Especially this being our first conference game, it’s huge. It’s important to get off on a good foot.”
Playing the Commodores always brings out the best in Frank. She has scored 14 times in four career games against them, including a pair of five-goal performances. In last year’s 14-3 playoff victory against Vanderbilt, Frank also led NU in draw controls.
Senior midfielder Hannah Nielsen and attacker Hilary Bowen are off to strong starts this season – Nielsen has nine goals and 16 assists, while Bowen has 16 goals.
But talented top-10 teams are capable of shutting down one of NU’s stars on occasion. Bowen contributed just one goal in last year’s win over North Carolina and Nielsen tallied only three points in the regular season matchup with Vanderbilt, well below their season averages.
“When teams see that they score six and seven goals a game, they’re obviously going to try and stop them,” Donohoe said. “That opens up a lot of secondary options for people who don’t score as much.”
Because of this, it is particularly important for role players like Donohoe, who had a hat trick in the North Carolina win, and Frank to take advantage of their opportunities and make opponents pay for locking down on one or two players.
“It’s the key to everything,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “We’ve got to have multiple people contribute. Bowen and Nielsen have done a great job so far and we’re looking to continue to have them do that, but we need everyone to step it up.”
Amonte Hiller is trying to develop her freshmen starters, Shannon Smith and Lacey Vigmostad, into additional offensive weapons. They have combined to score four goals in their first three games.
The challenge also becomes finding ways to give Nielsen and Bowen opportunities, even when they’re being faceguarded and keyed in on by defenses.
“They do a lot of stuff on their own,” Donohoe said. “They both play a lot around the crease, and it’s easier to get open using the crease as an extra pick. If they’re not getting the ball as often, we try to get them the ball just on the pass-around so they’re staying involved in everything.”
Not that teams are always successful in stopping them using this technique – Notre Dame was faceguarding for part of the game last Friday, yet Bowen and Nielsen still registered 17 points.
