April 23, 2008

NU Lacrosse Weekly Release - April 23, 2008

Opening Draw
Top-ranked Northwestern (15-0) returns to the site of its last national championship, closing out the 2008 regular season with a trip to Philadelphia, Pa., to battle fifth-ranked Penn Sunday, April 27, in a rematch of last season's NCAA Semifinals. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. at Franklin Field.

Scouting Pennsylvania
Fifth-ranked Pennsylvania is 12-1 on the year and clinched its second-straight Ivy League championship with a pair of wins this past week. The Quakers knocked off then second-ranked Princeton 9-5 on the road April 16, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season, before handling Brown 12-5 Saturday. Penn is led by a pair of 24-goal scorers in seniors Rachel Manson and Melissa Lehman, while sophomore Ali DeLuca has added 17 goals and 12 assists. Defensively, the Quakers are one of the tops in the nation, led by senior Tarah Kirnan's 20 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Sarah Waxman leads the nations in goals against average at 6.13 and holds a .500 save percentage with 75 saves on the year. Head coach Karin Bower is in her eighth season at Penn and 10th overall with a career record of 95-77.

Series Information
Sunday's game marks the sixth meeting between Northwestern and Penn with the Wildcats holding a 4-1 series lead. NU has won the last four meetings, including a pair of victories over the Quakers in 2007. The 'Cats took a 13-4 victory in Evanston thanks to 10 saves from goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop (Briarcliff, N.Y./The Hackley School), then followed it up with a 12-2 victory in the NCAA Semifinals on Penn's home field.

Milestone Watch
A handful of milestones have been reached already during the 2008 campaign, while others remain within sight. Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller won her 100th game on the Northwestern sideline with the 14-8 victory over Vanderbilt on March 30, while juniors Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Meredith Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) each tallied the 100th goals of their careers earlier this season; Bowen against Duquesne on March 7 and Frank against Massachusetts on March 16. Junior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) tallied her 100th career assist against Massachusetts and currently has 118 helpers, which puts her in second-place all-time behind current Wildcat assistant coach Lindsey Munday (128). Her 11 points in the pair of wins over Johns Hopkins and North Carolina (six goals, five assists) moved her into fifth on Northwestern's all-time scoring list with 215 points (97 goals, 118 assists) while Bowen moved into a tie for eighth with 199 points (137g, 62a) and Frank is 11th with 156 (112g, 44a).

Looking Ahead
Northwestern will host the 2008 American Lacrosse Conference Championship, presented by adidas Lacrose, May 2-4 at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats clinched the regular season ALC crown with its 14-12 victory over Johns Hopkins on April 18 and will be the number one seed, facing the winner of the quarterfinal game at 12 p.m. Saturday, May 3. Vanderbilt clinched the number two seed and will meet the third-seed at 2 p.m., with the championship game to be televised live by CBS College Sports Network at 12 p.m. Sunday, May 4. For a complete listing of the tournament schedule, plus ticket prices and other information, visit the ALC Championship link by clicking here.