NU Lacrosse: Seeking a Sixth NCAA Title
By Justin Schecker
Thursday, February 25, 2010
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In order for the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team to capture a sixth straight national championship in 2010, the Wildcats needs to fill in the holes left by last year’s tremendous senior class.
“We’re very young,” said Head Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. “We have people stepping into the roles of Hannah Nielsen, Morgan Lathrop, Meredith Frank and Hilary Bowen."
Three of those members of the Class of 2009 are among the program’s all-time leading scorers. Hannah Nielsen was essentially the team’s quarterback the past two seasons.
But Amonte Hiller is not looking for one attacker to replace the two-time Tewaarton Trophy winner.
“We really feel that all of our attackers can feed and score,” Amonte Hiller said. “So I don’t think that we're going to have one player do what Hannah did. I mean Hannah was a very special player.”
Senior Katrina Dowd, who scored 76 goals in her breakout campaign in 2009, plans to be more vocal in the offensive zone.
“I definitely have to be more of a leader,” Dowd said, “setting up the offenses and knowing when to push the fast break and when to slow it down. That is something more like a Hannah Nielsen or a Hilary Bowen role."
The Wildcats also need to find a replacement for the program’s most successful goalkeeper, Morgan Lathrop.
Amonte Hiller has chosen to not name a long term starter. Instead, sophomore Brianne “Breezy” LoManto and junior Darby St. Clair-Barrie are vying for time between the pipes.
"With the competition between Darby and I, it’s a very positive competition,” LoManto said. “We know nothing is set. I mean there was one game, but nothings set, so we just go out there and push each other.”
LoManto started for Northwestern in the season opener against the University of Massachusetts in San Diego. The Wildcats defeated UMass 18-6, but the players are trying to avoid the talk of going for another national championship.
"Obviously it pops in because people talk about it,” said senior Danielle Spencer. “My grandma will say something and I'm like, grandma please.”
With snow still on the ground at Lakeside Field in Evanston, the Wildcats travel to California this weekend for match ups with #15 Stanford and Cal.
The home opener is March 6 against Georgetown. If you cannot make it out to the Lakeside, catch the game on BigTenNetwork.com.
Last updated: 2010-02-26 13:28:53 by