If there’s such a thing as a perfect half of lacrosse, Northwestern nearly achieved it Saturday.
The second-ranked Wildcats came out on a tear, pouncing on No. 5 Duke early in their NCAA quarterfinal match. NU started the game by taking a 10-0 lead with seven minutes to play in the first half and ended the period up 13-2.
Though the Blue Devils (14-6) kept up with the Cats’ scoring in the second half, NU’s lead never dwindled below eight. Behind the early barrage and a career-high 12 saves from sophomore goalie Brianne LoManto, NU (19-1) cruised to an 18-8 victory and advanced to the NCAA semifinals in Towson, Md.
“We wanted to be as aggressive as possible, and we did a nice job being both offensive on the offensive end and stopping their attacks defensively,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “For this year’s team, that’s probably the best we’ve played, and I’ve felt it coming on the last couple of weeks.”
NU’s offensive output resulted from a balanced scoring attack. Senior attacker Danielle Spencer led the Cats with four goals, all coming in the first half. Sophomore attacker Shannon Smith and senior attacker Katrina Dowd each put in three scores. Dowd’s hat trick gives her 42 NCAA tournament goals in her career-a new NCAA record, surpassing former NU star Hilary Bowen.
While the Cats’ top three scorers produced at their season averages, the young midfielders proved to be the wild cards again at Lakeside Field.
After a three-goal performance in her first NCAA tournament contest, freshman Erin Fitzgerald exceeded that with four goals against the Blue Devils. Fellow freshman Amanda Macaluso also found the back of the net three times.
“If they can score goals, it makes it a lot easier on our top three scorers,” Amonte Hiller said. “And they’re going to have opportunities, they just have to take advantage of them. They did today-they played a great game.”
NU dominated possession in the first half, winning the draw control battle 14-2, which halted a Duke comeback. Spencer said she was pleased with the draw in the first half but needed to do better in the second period, when the Blue Devils won eight draws to the Cats’ four.
Yet even when Duke got the ball, finding the back of the net proved challenging because of LoManto’s performance between the pipes. In her second NCAA tournament start, the sophomore set a career high with 12 saves, including two in the opening minutes of the game that prevented the Blue Devils from taking an early lead.
With LoManto blocking five of Duke’s seven first-half shots and multiple players winning draw controls and scoring, Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said the Cats’ initial surge was too much for her team to overcome.
“If you have the ball, they can’t score, and we struggled with that clearly in the first half,” Kimel said. “It took a whole half, and at halftime we needed to reset. That’s a tribute to them coming out and really taking it right to us in the first half. We didn’t do a good job of responding in the moment.”
With the win, NU moves on to face North Carolina-the team that handed the Cats their only loss of the season. The third-seeded Tar Heels had no trouble topping sixth-seeded Virginia in their NCAA quarterfinal game Saturday, winning 17-7.
NU’s quest for a sixth title looks to be a run through the ACC gauntlet. Should the Cats get revenge upon the Tar Heels, top-seeded Maryland is the favorite to be NU’s opponent in the championship.
Amonte Hiller said her team has been improving in recent weeks, and the emphasis is on preparing for North Carolina while enjoying the last week of the season with her seniors and young squad.
“It’s not just going to the final four, it’s the lead-in, it’s the weeks prior and what we’ve done, and our girls have really made adjustments and focused in, made the commitment it takes to be good on the field, and this is just one more week,” Amonte Hiller said. “This team has a lot of energy, a lot of youth, a lot of excitement, and we’re going to be ready to go.”
