University of North Carolina Athletics
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Northwestern
Tar Heels Fall To Wildcats In NCAA Quarterfinals, 17-6
May 20, 2006 | Women's Lacrosse
May 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - Trailing by two late in the first half, Northwestern regrouped after a timeout and went on a 14-1 run to end the game as the Wildcats (18-1) earned their second straight trip to the NCAA Division I Lacrosse Final Four with a 17-6 win Saturday over No. 5-seed North Carolina (13-6) on a picture-perfect day along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Aly Josephs led NU with four goals followed by Kristen Kjellman and Meredith Frank with three. Brooke Dieringer and Melissa McCarthy each had two goals for UNC.
After the Tar Heels scored four straight goals to take a 5-3 lead 27 minutes in, Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller signaled for a timeout. After that, the Wildcats scored three goals in the final two minutes of the half to take a 6-5 lead and take the wind out of the Tar Heels, who appeared to be heading into halftime with the lead.
"I said to my team, 'you have to reach down in your heart and if you want to win this game today, we need to step up and leave it all out on the field,' " Amonte Hiller said. "I know if we play that way, I know we can do this. It was like we turned the light switch on after that timeout. We weren't playing our game at all."
She got her message across.
A minute after the timeout, Josephs came up with a ground ball at midfield and sprinted right to the goal, leaving nothing but a trail of Tar Heels in her wake as NU cut the lead to 5-4. Ensuing goals by Lindsey Munday and Josephs gave NU the one point lead at halftime.
The second period was all Wildcats as NU outshot UNC 18-6, held an 11-5 advantage on ground balls, 10-3 on draw controls while committing just four turnovers compared to nine in the first half.
"The second half is indicative of how explosive we can be and that is what we are looking to do next weekend," Amonte Hiller said. "North Carolina is a great program and I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff as well. I just know that when we get on a roll, we can be very explosive and tough to stop. We're a very fast and athletic team, so if we get a lead it becomes even more beneficial."
Morgan Lathrop was on top of her game once again in goal, making one incredible save after another. UNC searched high and low, but found nothing but Lathrop's stick. She finished with 10 saves on the day.
Munday found the back of the net twice as did fellow senior Laura Glassanos. Hilary Bowen and Sarah Albrecht each had one goal.
