Before the game between Northwestern and Vanderbilt, the question was how the Wildcats would respond to losing for the first time in 41 games.
By halftime it became a question of how many school records No. 2 NU would shatter.Senior attacker Danielle Spencer posted a career-high in goals, rebounding from her scoreless outing against North Carolina to tally seven in the first half and finish with eight scores and an assist as the Cats crushed the eighth-ranked Commodores 27-9.
NU (13-1, 4-0 ALC) set a new record for most goals in a game under coach Kelly Amonte Hiller less than one week after allowing the most scores in a contest under the ninth-year coach. The Cats’ 27 goals surpassed their previous mark of 25, which they notched against Ohio and Davidson in 2004.
“They really took (the loss) to heart and they didn’t like that they set a new record for goals allowed,” Amonte Hiller said. “We focused a lot on defense, but part of being good defensively is being good offensively. Both sides really stepped it up.”
Spencer’s eight goals tie her with former NU star Kristen Kjellman for the most by a player under Amonte Hiller and put her fourth in school history. Though she notched her eighth score with more than 14 minutes remaining in the contest, she was taken out shortly after since the Cats already had the game in hand.
Amonte Hiller said Spencer was slightly banged up heading into the game against the Tar Heels, so she got some days off to heal during the week. Spencer’s rejuvinated play was evident in the box score, but despite hovering on the cusp of history, Spencer said her sole focus was to play “fearless” and do what was necessary to win.
“The amount of points I was putting up wasn’t really in my mind at all,” Spencer said. “It was just to put up as many as I can, go out there and win every ground ball and every draw control.”
Spencer and fellow senior attacker Katrina Dowd set the tone for the Cats within the first minute of the game. Dowd recovered the opening draw and took the ball to the goal, finding the back of the net 42 seconds into the game. Spencer then corralled the ensuing draw, sprinted toward the goal, made one loop around the cage and buried her shot-all in 16 seconds.
Dowd finished with five goals and three assists on the night, while the third component of the NU attack, sophomore Shannon Smith, chipped in three scores.
But it was a trio of freshmen who buoyed the record-breaking NU onslaught. Midfielder Erin Fitzgerald and attacker Amanda Macaluso both started against Vanderbilt and responded with four and two goals, respectively. Ali Cassera brought efficiency off the bench, tallying three scores off three shot opportunities.
“They’re great freshmen, they played with a lot of energy and that really sparked our offense,” Dowd said. “As seniors, me and Danielle feed off of their energy and love for the game. They’re really fun to play with and if they come out each game, it’s going to get harder and harder to scout us.”
Cassera and Fitzgerald scored back-to-back free position goals to extend NU’s lead to 7-1 less than 10 minutes into the game.
Then it was Vanderbilt’s turn to make a run, notching three unanswered scores in a two-minute span to cut the deficit to three.
But the Cats closed the door on the Commodores after that. NU finished the period on an 11-2 run and went into halftime with a commanding 18-6 lead. Aside from Vanderbilt’s three-goal spurt early in the half, NU did not allow any other back-to-back goals in the contest, leading Amonte Hiller to call the win “our first complete game overall.”
“It says a lot about the potential we have and goes to show what we can achieve when we get a little anger in us,” Spencer said. “I wish we didn’t have to lose to do that, but we lost, and so if that works for the younger girls to show them this is how much better we have to do, that’s fine.”
With the win over Vanderbilt (11-4, 4-1), NU secured the ALC regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Cats close out their regular season slate next weekend at home against No. 5 Virginia and conference foe Florida.
While NU made a win over its highest-ranked ALC adversary look easy, there is still work to be done. Spencer said she will “never forget that loss, no matter how much time passes,” and hopes the rest of the team will do the same. She cited defense and ground balls as areas in need of improvement.
Amonte Hiller said lighting up the scoreboard was not intended to send a message to the rest of the nation. Instead, it was to show the players what they could accomplish when they put together a full 60 minutes.
“This was only one game and we have to go out there and do it again,” Amonte Hiller said. “This is just one step. Vanderbilt is a good team and we had a good day today, but that doesn’t take away from what we need to do in practice this week. We have to work just as hard.”[email protected]
