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Northwestern Downs Tar Heels, 21-7, For Fifth Consecutive NCAA Title
May 24, 2009 | Women's Lacrosse
May 24, 2009
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TOWSON, MD. -- Northwestern scored 10 consecutive first-half goals and set a new NCAA championship-game record for goals scored as it defeated North Carolina, 21-7, on Sunday evening at Unitas Stadium to win its fifth straight NCAA championship in women's lacrosse. NU led, 4-2, with 19:24 left in the first half before the Wildcats scored their 10 straight goals.
Carolina was making its first appearance in the NCAA championship game in its fourth Final Four trip. With the victory, Northwestern finishes the season with a 23-0 record. UNC ends the 2009 campaign at 16-5. The Tar Heels' national runner-up finish was the best in school history.
Northwestern set new NCAA championship-game records for most goals in a game (21) and a half (15 in the first half). Wildcats held Carolina scoreless for nearly 18 minutes during their 10-0 run and scored their 15 first-half goals on 17 shots.
Northwestern's 21 goals are the most the Tar Heels ever have given up in a game, eclipsing the previous record of 19 to Maryland on April 24, 1999. The 14-goal margin of defeat tied as the largest in UNC program history, equaling the previous mark of 14 in a 16-2 loss in the 2002 national semifinals to Princeton.
Northwestern got five goals from Hilary Bowen, four goals and two assists from Final Four Most Outstanding Player Katrina Dowd and six assists from Hannah Nielsen. Danielle Spencer had four goals and an assist for NU, Brooke Matthews had three goals, Meredith Frank had two and Mary Kate Casey, Meghan Plunkett and Samantha Santulli had one goal apiece.
UNC got two goals and an assist from Jenn Russell and single goals from Megan Bosica, Kelly Taylor, Katie Brooks, Corey Donohoe and Kristen Carr.
Russell, Amber Falcone and Laura Zimmerman were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
Northwestern got its first five goals from five different players. The Wildcats opened the scoring in the first minute as Bowen cut in from the right of the cage, stutter-stepped to shake a defender and scored for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Casey scored a free position goal for a 2-0 lead. Bosica's free position goal with 23:47 left in the first half cut the Northwestern lead to 2-1. Spencer scored an unassisted goal on a strong drive from the left of the cage for a 3-1 Wildcat lead entering the game's first media timeout with 20:54 left in the half.
Matthews scored for a 4-1 advantage just 15 seconds later, taking the draw and racing down the field for a fast break goal with 20:39 left before the break. Donohoe scored on a free position opportunity at 19:24 to pull UNC back within two goals at 4-2. Donohoe cut between two defenders and beat goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop for her eighth goal of the NCAA Tournament.
Northwestern then scored 10 consecutive goals to take a 14-2 lead with just over a minute left before halftime. Dowd took a pass from Spencer and wrapped around the cage and scored for a 5-2 lead at the second media timeout with 14:53 left. Bowen scored her second goal of the day with 14:06 left before the break. Spencer scored her second goal of the evening with 11:30 left, beating a defender and squeezing the ball into the cage just above the left shoulder of UNC keeper Logan Ripley to force a Tar Heel timeout.
Bowen's third goal of the first half put Northwestern up 8-2, as she wrapped around from the left of the cage to the right and scored unassisted with 8:01 to go. Matthews' scored her second goal of the half for a 9-2 lead, taking a pass from Dowd off a free position opportunity and scoring over Ripley's head with 7:10 left. Plunkett gave Northwestern its 10th goal with 4:52 left before the break, taking a pass from Nielsen and scoring for a 10-2 advantage.
Dowd scored her second goal of the half for an 11-2 lead, scoring after a pass from Nielsen. Matthews scored on a free position shot for a 12-2 lead with 3:25 to go, and Dowd's third goal of the half made it 13-2 with 2:06 before the break. Meredith Frank made it 14-2 with 1:07 left, scoring off a pass from Nielsen. Russell broke the scoring drought for UNC with a free position goal with 33.5 seconds to go in the first half.
In the second half, Northwestern ripped off a 4-0 scoring run to open the period. Dowd scored her fourth goal less than a minute after the break for a 16-3 Northwestern lead. Spencer's back-to-back goals in 34 seconds put the Wildcats ahead 18-3. Bowen scored off a Dowd assist for a 19-3 NU lead with 22:58 to go.
Russell's second goal of the night broke the run and made the score 19-4 with 16:04 left to go. Bowen responded with her fifth goal of the game off a pass from Nielsen for a 20-4 lead before Brooks scored off a pass from Russell to cut the lead down to 15 goals at 20-5 with 10:26 left. Santulli scored on a free position try with 6:56 left for a 21-5 NU advantage. Carr scored on a free position shot with 4:37 to go to cut it to 21-6. Kelly Taylor's free position goal with 2:08 left made it 21-7.
