Six is the magic number for Northwestern. The Wildcats are trying to win the ALC tournament and NCAA tournament for the sixth straight year.
If individual accolades foreshadow the team’s success, then No. 2 NU is well on its way.
Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller earned her sixth ALC Coach of the Year award this week after directing the Cats to a 15-1 record, including a perfect 5-0 in conference. She has previously been named IWLCA National Coach of the Year three times.
For the sixth time in as many years, the ALC Player of the Year is from NU. Senior attacker Katrina Dowd joined a prestigious group of NU alumnae when she was given the distinction after finishing the regular season with 57 goals and 24 assists. She joins former teammates Kristen Kjellman, who was the ALC Player of the Year from 2005-07, and Hannah Nielsen, who earned the award in 2008 and 2009.
“It’s a great honor,” Dowd said. “I’ve been teammates with the past two winners and to win an award they won is an unbelievable honor. I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it yet. It’s a good feeling, and now it’s having that confidence going into the ALC tournament.”
Dowd finished the regular season with 10 more points than NU’s next highest player, sophomore attacker Shannon Smith, who had 71 points. Senior attacker Danielle Spencer had 45 goals and 13 assists at regular season’s end. The trio of attackers all make it onto the All-ALC First Team.
Three more NU players made the All-ALC Second Team: freshman defender Taylor Thornton, sophomore midfielder Alex Frank and junior midfielder Colleen Magarity.
Thornton, who received two ALC Rookie of the Week awards during the regular season, finished second to Florida’s Ashley Bruns for ALC Rookie of the Year.
Amonte Hiller and the players are proud of their individual awards, but winning as a team is more important to them.
“It’s obviously nice to be honored, but ultimately we’re focusing in on what we need to do this weekend,” Amonte Hiller said. “An ALC championship would be the ultimate goal of this team, so we have to do everything we can this week to make it happen.”
– BRIAN CHAPPATTA
