Hannah Nielsen was one of the fiercest competitors to ever come through Northwestern. The Brighton, Australia native helped lead the Wildcats to four national championships during her time in Evanston.
But Nielsen graduated last year, and this weekend No. 1 NU will visit Nielsen’s new home turf in University Park, Pa.
The NCAA’s all-time career assists leader is now an assistant coach at No. 18 Penn State (7-4, 0-2 ALC). And make no mistake, NU (9-0, 1-0) won’t get any sympathy from Nielsen.
“I have that winning mentality just like Kelly has, so obviously I want to win, even though we are playing Northwestern,” Nielsen said. “We’ll see what happens Sunday.”
The current Cats have the same cut-throat mentality as Nielsen, especially those who once viewed her as a role model.
“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing her, I played with her for three years, but that’s where it ends,” senior attacker Katrina Dowd said. “She graduated, and she’s just another face on the opposing team.”
Nielsen’s path to Penn State started early in her NU career when she decided she wanted to coach after graduation. Without a women’s professional league, her main option for staying involved in lacrosse after college was through coaching.
Nielsen said her experience as a leader of a championship program has given her the confidence to express her thoughts and opinions to the Penn State players and coaches. Observing the philosophy of coach Kelly Amonte Hiller also helped shape her coaching style.
“Kelly’s mindset and how she coaches is second-to-none-she’s got a champion’s mind and she knows how to win,” Nielsen said. “I tried to bring in what I know, just to have that winning mentality. It’s tough in a program that hasn’t typically been on top, but hearing from me, they get a lot out of what I have to say.”
The adjustment from player to coach has not come easy for the two-time Tewaaraton Trophy winner. Though she is grateful for the opportunity to help the Nittany Lions by playing with them in practice, she misses the thrill of live action.
“I’m a winner-I like to win and the losses have been tough, especially when you’re on the sideline and can’t do anything about it,” Nielsen said. “It has been a hard pill to swallow, but I’m not getting used to it. I don’t ever want to get used to losing.”
The Cats are not accustomed to defeat either, but they will be reminded of their last loss when they take on No. 6 Pennsylvania (9-2). NU has won 38 consecutive games since losing 11-7 at Franklin Field on April 27, 2008 in its regular season finale.
The freshmen and sophomores have never experienced a loss at NU, but for the upperclassmen, Philadelphia has a bad aftertaste.
“It’s definitely still in my mind, it’s still in a lot of people’s minds, that loss at Franklin Field,” Dowd said. “The Northwestern-Penn matchup, if you can’t get motivated for that, you don’t have a pulse.”
The Cats’ contests in the Keystone State will be their last regular season away games. NU’s final five games are at Lakeside Field, where it has not lost since 2004.
Nielsen has season tickets to all of the Cats’ home games, even though she can’t make it to a single contest. She said she continues to support NU and tries to watch the Cats online at every opportunity.
Dowd is looking forward to facing a good friend and showing Nielsen what it is like to be on the receiving end of NU lacrosse.
“It’ll definitely be good seeing her and it’ll probably feel a little good beating her,” Dowd said. “She was my mentor for three years, so showing her everything she taught me and pitting it against her team, it’s going to be a lot of fun and a special game to play against one of Northwestern’s great players.”
