ALC Win Streak
Northwestern has not lost an ALC match since its regular-season finale in 2004 to Vanderbilt. They enter Friday with 13-straight conference wins and are 18-1 since 2004 in league play.

Seniors Set Win Record
With the win over California on April 9, the 2007 seniors (Kjellman, Josephs, Finocchiaro, Elliott, Boege, Whitman and Lovett) became the winningest class in Northwestern's history with 67 wins and counting. They won 15 games in 2004, 21 in 2005, 20 last season and 11 so far in 2007. Last year's class graduated with 64 wins.

Scouting Johns Hopkins
The Blue Jays are ranked 13th in the latest IWLCA poll with a 1-1 mark in the ALC and 8-5 overall. Of those five losses, three have come by a combined total of five points, two of which went into overtime against Vanderbilt and Princeton. They have won three of their last four games and are coming off a 12-9 win over No. 7 Virginia last Friday at home. Hopkins features one of the top players in the nation in senior Mary Key who leads the nation in goals (51, 3.9), points (92, 7.0) and is second in assists per game (41, 3.1). Hopkins is 7-1 this year at home and 1-4 on the road. JHU is led by 14th-year head coach Janine Tucker, the winningest coach all-time at Johns Hopkins.

The Series
Northwestern leads the all-time series with the Blue Jays 4-2 and have won the last three meetings. Last season Northwestern won 17-5 in Evanston.

We've Got a Streaker
Sophomore Meredith Frank has recorded at least one point in 33 consecutive games. Frank started her streak at the start of last season, notching at least one point in goal or assist fashion in every game of her young career.

Northwestern's `D' Puts the Clamps on Opponents
With all the offensive fireworks Northwestern's attack displays, probably the biggest part that gets overlooked is its defense. As of the NCAA stats released April 15, NU currently leads the nation in scoring defense at 6.0 goals per game. Goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop leads in goals-against average (5.81) and is third in save percentage (.570) while junior Christy Finch is third with 2.8 caused turnovers per game. Northwestern has only allowed one opponent--Notre Dame--to score in double-digits with 10 goals. Of the 12 games this year, NU's defense has given up just five or fewer goals six times. They held No. 8 Syracuse--the nation's top scoring team at the time with 15.8 per game--to seven goals, its lowest offensive output of the season and held No. 4 Duke--also more than 15 goals per game coming in--to its lowest offensive output (five goals) since 2005.

'Cats Keep On Rollin'
Since its one-point, double-overtime setback at then-No. 4 North Carolina back on Feb. 17, the Wildcats have played like a team on a mission. They have won 11-straight games--eight against ranked teams--and have outscored their opponents 188-64 over that stretch, an average score of 17.0 to 5.8.

Home Cookin'
The Wildcats are one tough cookie at home, winning 27-straight games in Evanston dating to 2004. Northwestern went unbeaten at home the past two seasons and is 7-0 in Evanston so far this year. The NCAA record is 41 home wins in a row set by Maryland from 1997-2001.

Cats Among NCAA Leaders
To no one's surprise, the Wildcats are among the NCAA statistical leaders in several categories as of the latest NCAA stats released April 15. NU leads the nation in scoring margin (+10.73), scoring (16.73) and scoring defense (6.0). Individually, goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop leads in goals-against average (5.81) and is third in save percentage (.570) while junior defender Christy Finch is third with 2.8 caused turnovers per game. Hannah Nielsen is fourth with 3.1 assists and third with 5.5 points per game. Hilary Bowen ranks ninth in points (4.73) and 13th in assists with 2.0. Kristen Kjellman rounds out the leaders, ranking 22nd in points (4.09) and 13th with 3.2 draw controls.

Last Time Out: NU 12, Maryland 7
Time and time again, NU has been put to the test by some of the nation's top teams. And each time the Wildcats have passed with flying colors. As was the case Monday afternoon as No. 1 Northwestern took care of business, handing No. 2 Maryland a 12-7 defeat at the Lakeside Field in Evanston. While many will be quick to point out the three goals apiece from Kristen Kjellman, Meredith Frank and Hilary Bowen as the difference in the game, the real hero was Morgan Lathrop's play between the pipes. The sophomore from Briarcliff, N.Y., made 14 saves, five of those coming in the first four minutes when Maryland showered NU with shot after shot. But Lathrop held her ground, reaching high and low to deny early shot attempts from Maryland as NU raced out to the early advantage. Northwestern opened a 3-0 lead with early goals from Aly Josephs, Kjellman and Frank before Maryland finally struck the back of the net with an unassisted goal from Dana Dobbie with 21:56 left. Frank then made it 4-1 with 20:45 left before Maryland's Katie Doolittle cut the lead back to two just over two minutes later. Leading 5-2, Maryland notched consecutive goals by Lauren Cohen and Krista Pellizzi to cut the lead to 5-4 with 12 minutes remaining in the half. But two more goals by Frank and Bowen gave NU a three-point cushion until UM scored the final goal of the half from Casey Major to keep the Terrapins within striking distance at halftime, 7-5. And Maryland wasted little time at the start of the second half as Dobbie's second goal of the game cut NU's lead to 7-6, leaving the Wildcat faithful feeling a bit uneasy. Enter Kjellman, who always seems to rise to the occasion when her team needs the big play. Just over four minutes later, the senior All-American notched two goals in the span of :20 seconds--the second of which left two Maryland defenders spinning--as NU regained control 9-6 with 25:32 remaining. The game stayed at 9-6 over the next 13-plus minutes until the Wildcats added a few insurance goals from Nielsen (11:37), Bowen (9:17) and Josephs (6:46) to take a 12-6 lead late in the game. Maryland never threatened after Kjellman's two goals and managed just two scores in the final 30 minutes.

Multiple Threats
The Wildcats are one of the nation's top scoring teams, due mainly to their multiple threats on attack. Northwestern has five players with 28 or more goals, led by Meredith Frank's 35. Hilary Bowen (33) and Kristen Kjellman (32) round out the two others with 30 or more while Aly Josephs and Hannah Nielsen come in at 29 and 28, respectively. Since they were held to single digits in the opener at UNC, the Wildcat attack has exploded, averaging 17.0 goals over their 11-game win streak. Hilary Bowen (31g, 25a) and Hannah Nielsen (26g, 33a) have combined for 57 goals and 58 assists over that stretch.

Nielsen On Record Breaking Pace
Sophomore Hannah Nielsen is on pace for a record-breaking season. Through 10 games, the Australia native has 35 assists, an average of 2.9 per game. At her current pace, she is on pace to shatter the NU single-season record for assists which is 54, set by current assistant coach Lindsey Munday in 2005.

Early and Often
The Wildcats have made a living jumping out to big leads this season. Through 12 games NU has outscored the opposition 111-34 in the first half of games. They led 13-0 at the half at Vanderbilt, 12-4 at Notre Dame, 10-1 vs. UMass, 7-0 at Boston University and 13-3 vs. UConn.

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