Junior midfielder Danielle Spencer looks to win the opening draw control. The Cats won 18-of-27 faceoffs, which enabled them to get settled in their offense and allow just seven shots on goal. Matt Forman/The Daily Northwestern
Updated March 14, 5:09 p.m.Northwestern is known for turning in dominating defensive performances.
Since reinstating women’s lacrosse as a varsity sport in 2002, the Wildcats have held opponents to two or three goals on 15 occasions. But they had never limited a team to only one score.
Until Saturday, that is.
NU annihilated Rutgers 24-1 at Lakeside Field in its second home game of the season. It was the largest margin of victory for the Cats since 2001.
“We finally put 60 good minutes of lacrosse together,” said senior attacker Hilary Bowen, whose six goals on the afternoon matched her career best. “We’ve really been trying to do that all year, and we haven’t been able to play a complete game.”
Freshman midfielder Alexandra Frank picked up the opening draw for the Cats, and the offense dominated the game from there.
Sophomore midfielder Brooke Matthews started off the scoring two minutes after the opening whistle. Less than a minute later, NU attackers Danielle Spencer and Hilary Bowen tacked on a pair of goals. Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s squad led 11-1 less than midway through the first half, marking the shortest amount of time it has taken her team to claim a 10-goal edge this season.
“We wanted to be more patient, and as a result we had more opportunities,” Amonte Hiller said.
A major factor in the Cats’ ability to keep the Scarlet Knights off the scoreboard was preventing them from even reaching midfield.
Rutgers had possession in NU territory for exactly five seconds during the first six and a half minutes of the game. The Scarlet Knights registered their first shot after seven minutes had passed and the Cats had tallied eight of their own. For the game, Rutgers committed 22 turnovers.
“Our girls do such a great job of riding,” Amonte Hiller said. “In the first 10 minutes, we came up with a lot of those turnovers, and that made the difference for us.”
NU built a 14-1 lead by the break. Bowen scored five goals in the opening period, the fourth time she has done that so far this year, and her team had a 24-6 shot advantage.
The Cats kept their foot on the accelerator in the second half. Junior midfielder Katrina Dowd added three goals to her one from the first half, tying her career high with four scores. Nielsen also dished out four more assists to bring her game total to eight, leaving her eight away from tying the NCAA record
“It’s not the top of my priorities right now – it’s nice to be reminded of and I know it’s a possibility,” Nielsen said. “When I think about that record, I don’t think of it as an individual record. I think about it more as how good the players are that I’ve been playing with here the past four seasons because they’re the ones who I’m passing the ball to and getting open and putting the shots away. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be getting the shots in the first place.”
At the hands of the stifling NU defense, Rutgers failed to record its first shot of the second half until the final second of regulation. Its best chance to score came with less than 10 minutes to play, but an offensive foul inside the fan gave the ball back to NU.
“We played one of our more aggressive sets for defense,” Bowen said. “I was really impressed with their ability to get out there and play hard, even after having a game two days ago. Their legs might have been a little tired, but they put everything into it.”
The little things played a big role in the Cats’ dominating performance. NU held 20-12 and 18-9 edges in ground balls and draw controls, keeping Rutgers from having substantial opportunities. The Scarlet Knights did not do themselves any favors with 12 uncaused turnovers, either.
The scoring distribution for NU was impressive. Eleven different players found the back of the net, including seven goals by the Cats’ bench.
Thursday’s home opener against Hofstra was also a blowout, with NU cruising to a 20-6 victory. The Cats’ offense struggled much more in the early going. With 10 minutes left in the first half, NU held a slim 5-2 lead.
“I felt like we were forcing it, trying to make things happen too quickly (in the opening minutes),” Amonte Hiller said.
But Hofstra changed goalies at that point, and NU went into the break feeling relaxed after tallying eight unanswered goals. The Cats maintained the comfortable lead, tacking on seven more in the second half.
The next challenge for the four-time defending national champions comes a week from Sundaywhen No. 6 Syracuse arrives in Evanston. The Orange will look to avenge last year’s 19-7 defeat.
Read updates on our sports blog, Cats’ Corner.
