March 2, 2009
Final Stats
Chapel Hill - The Northwestern University women's lacrosse team went on a 6-0 run during a 16-minute span of the second half to break open a close game and defeat the University of North Carolina, 12-7, on Monday afternoon at Henry Stadium in Chapel Hill. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday afternoon but was canceled due to inclement weather and poor field conditions at Fetzer Field. The game was played on the artificial turf of Henry Stadium instead of the grass of Fetzer after heavy rain and snow pelted Chapel Hill on Sunday.
With the win, No. 1-ranked and four-time defending NCAA champion Northwestern improves to 5-0 this season. Ninth-ranked UNC falls to 3-1 with the defeat.
The Tar Heels got two goals and an assist from Megan Bosica and a goal and an assist from Jenn Russell in the loss. Kristen Taylor, Becky Lynch, Corey Donohoe and Kelly Taylor all scored single goals for Carolina.
Northwestern was led by Hannah Nielsen's three goals and Danielle Spencer's two goals and two assists. Casey Donohoe scored twice for the Wildcats, while Hilary Bowen and Shannon Smith both had a goal and an assist. Meredith Frank, Katrina Dowd and Brooke Matthews each had single goals for Northwestern, while Alexandra Frank had a single assist.
The game was close in the early portions of the contest, as the Wildcats led, 6-5, at halftime. Carolina tied it up at 6-all just over five minutes into the second half before Northwestern's run gave it an insurmountable 12-6 lead with under eight minutes to play in the game.
Northwestern scored the first two goals of the game in the first 10 minutes. Bowen curled through the Carolina defense and scored unassisted at the 23:55 mark of the first half to make it 1-0 Wildcats. Smith passed to Nielsen off a free position attempt for a goal from point-blank range that made it 2-0 Northwestern with 21:18 left in the half.
Bosica cut the lead to 2-1 with an unassisted goal with 14:25 left in the half, cutting through the Northwestern defense from the left side. The Wildcats scored two more goals in less than a minute to make the score 4-1, as Nielsen took a Spencer pass and scored with 13:52 left and Casey Donohoe scored off a pass from Spencer off a free position opportunity.
Russell cut it to 4-3 with 12:40 left in the first half, taking the draw and racing straight down the field for an unassisted score. Casey Donohoe scored her second goal of the game off a pass from Bowen at 9:53 that made it 5-3 Northwestern. Kelly Taylor pulled Carolina back to within one goal when Kristen Taylor scored off a pass from Bosica that made it 5-4.
Spencer sliced through the Tar Heel defense to put Northwestern ahead 6-4 with 5:18 left in the half before Lynch scored the final goal of the period, taking advantage of Wildcat goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop being out of the cage and scoring with 52 seconds to go. The score was 6-5 in favor of Northwestern at the break.
Early in the second half, Corey Donohoe tied the score at 6-6 with a goal off an assist from Russell. The Wildcats then scored six consecutive goals for a 12-6 lead, holding Carolina scoreless for nearly 20 minutes in the second half before Kelly Taylor scored on a free position shot to cut the lead to 12-7 with under six minutes to play.
Logan Ripley tallied five saves in 60 minutes in the cage for Carolina, while Morgan Lathrop recorded 11 saves in the goal for the Wildcats.
Carolina will return to action on Friday at Penn in Philadelphia, Pa.
