Last season, the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team followed up its first defeat of the year with a second consecutive loss, the squad’s first back-to-back defeats since 2003.
This year’s squad emphatically ensured that did not happen again.
After suffering its first loss of the season Saturday to Florida, Northwestern played with a vicious aggression Wednesday night. The ‘Cats threw aside their typically measured, methodical offensive game plan and attacked the net without mercy in their 17-7 route of Notre Dame.
“When you have a loss like that, it kind of shocks your system a little bit,” head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “I don’t think we ever like to lose, but hopefully we can continue the response.”
With a nine-goal advantage after the first half, Northwestern comfortably sat on its lead in the second half as Kelly Amonte Hiller pulled starting goalkeeper Brianne LoManto for the end of the game and a number of Wildcat reserves saw action.
“We knew coming into this game that this game would show a lot about our team,” said LoManto, who finished with eight saves. “I thought our offense was on fire today. We definitely needed that too. It was a great confidence booster.”
The numbers:
7 – The number of Northwestern’s first half free position shots. That is the most first half free position attempts the Wildcats have had since their opening day win over Stanford, a good indicator of the Wildcats’ aggression. They were also very efficient, scoring on five of those shots.
61 – Consecutive games in which Shannon Smith has scored a goal. Despite the margin of victory, that streak was in jeopardy on Wednesday night. Smith garnered three assists, but did not have a first half goal. With 12-3 halftime advantage, Northwestern took a far more conservative offensive approach to close out the game.
However, she put fears of the streak ending to rest with an unassisted goal 4:48 into the half to put Northwestern up 14-3. She later put an exclamation point on extending the streak, scoring with 10:59 remaining to end a Notre Dame run of three consecutive goals.
According to Amonte Hiller, Smith’s goal count does not necessarily reflect her impact on the game.
“(Shannon) draws so much attention that even when she doesn’t score, she can be pivotal to our offense,” she said. “She creates so much for everyone else.”
With 240 career goals, Smith is now 10 goals away from passing Kristen Kjellman for the most in Northwestern history.
Game-changing moments:
Three minutes into the contest, the Fighting Irish scored first. All that did was poke the angry bear – er, Wildcat that is. The Irish would not lead again. Northwestern went on a five goal rampage in less than 10 minutes.
Taylor Thornton had the play of the game that symbolized Northwestern’s dominance. The defenseman took the ball from behind the midfield stripe, picked up a full head of steam and fired a rocket passed Notre Dame goalkeeper Ellie Hilling to put the Wildcats up 7-2 with 15:12 remaining in the first half. It was a dazzling display of athleticism from the former Defender of the Year and it seemed to rattle any confidence the Fighting Irish had left.
Where Northwestern stands:
The dominating victory against a Top 10 opponent put the women’s lacrosse world back on notice, reestablishing Northwestern’s status as the top team in the nation. The Wildcats will complete the regular season this Saturday at Lakeside Field against No. 9 Virginia (11-6).
After that they will move on to the ALC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. That’s the home of the Florida Gators – the only team to defeat the ‘Cats so far this season.