June 21, 2007

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by Kyle Adams
Northwestern Media Services

The Wildcat lacrosse team is accustomed to success.

Therefore, the fact that the Wildcats won their third-straight national championship, becoming only the second team in Division I women's lacrosse to win three-straight titles, wasn't that surprising. The fact that senior Kristen Kjellman won the Tewaaraton Trophy for the second-straight year followed up with a record eight All-Americans wasn't that much of a shock either. But still very impressive.

Twenty-one consecutive wins to end the season, 32 home wins in a row since 2004 and a fourth-straight American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) championship. Each accomplishment remarkable in its own right.

The one thing that may have surprised the nation this season was the way the Wildcats imposed their will against the competition -- making a strong case that this team may have in fact been the most dominant in all of college athletics in 2006-07.

You see, the Wildcats didn't just win this season. They raised it to an art form, at times scoring at will and using their swarming defense to shut down some of the nation's top offenses.

After dropping the season opener by one goal at North Carolina in double overtime, the Wildcats won their final 15 regular-season games by an average of more than 11 goals per game. That run included convincing wins over 11 ranked teams, including No. 8 Penn State (19-8), No. 7 Notre Dame (18-10), fourth-ranked Duke (17-5) and second-ranked Maryland (12-7). They set NCAA single-season records with 361 goals, 168 assists, 529 points and a 16.4 goals per game average.

And all signs point to another potent season in 2008 with 67 percent of their scoring returning, including six high school All-Americans joining the roster next fall.

Still, despite the gaudy numbers, the dominance was more effectively evinced on the field of play, where the Wildcats displayed a level of confidence and athletic prowess rare in college sports.

Throughout the season, the Wildcats controlled their opponents, using a methodical offensive system to wear down defenses and exploit holes. They complemented this with a stifling defense that held opponents to single digits in 15-of-16 regular season games and 20-of-22 overall.

Northwestern dictated the pace of games early and buried teams in the second half. The Wildcats outscored opponents 208-62 in the first half and 153-72 in the second.

Whether it was Hannah Nielsen's crisp passes, Morgan Lathrop's quick saves in goal, Christy Finch's feisty defensive play or Aly Josephs' scintillating speed, Northwestern relied on the combined talents to maintain their post at the top of the lacrosse world.

Still, even with the subordination of the individual to the team in Kelly Amonte Hiller's system, senior Kristen Kjellman displayed unparalleled veteran leadership and solidified her place among the all-time best in the game.

Leaving a Legacy
Despite being pestered by double teams all season, Kjellman led the nation's top scoring team with 66 goals on her way to her second-straight Tewaaraton Trophy. She also became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Championship history, scoring 39 career goals in 14 games.

For Kjellman, 2007 was a culmination of one of the finest careers in Northwestern athletics history, joining the likes of football's Pat Fitzgerald ('96) and golf's Luke Donald ('01) as some of the most decorated student-athletes over the past decade. She set school records with 250 career goals and 349 points, set the all-time NCAA record with 268 career draw controls and was the only player in the nation this season to record at least 60 goals and 80 draw controls.

The awards followed. And rightfully so.

In addition to the Tewaaraton, she was named a first-team All-American for the third-straight year, the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) Player of the Year for the third time and received her fourth-straight first-team all-conference honor, among others. She capped off the awards season with the 2007 Honda Sports Award (again for the third year) and an automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

As Kjellman departs, she leaves behind a career that will be immortalized in her statistical records and awards. But beyond those individual accomplishments, her greatest achievement will be an intangible one. Her leadership and the example she set helped ground the team throughout the season. For Kjellman, it's been a historic personal run. But perhaps her greatest memory will be getting to celebrate with her teammates that one final time in Philadelphia.

The senior class of Kjellman, Josephs, Lindsay Finocchiaro, Annie Elliott, Kristen Boege, Emily Lovett and Hannah Whitman is the winningest in program history with 77 victories (77-5 overall).

The Road to Philadelphia
Despite Kjellman's preeminence, everyone had a chance to shine in Amonte Hiller's offensive system. The Wildcats took advantage of a deep and immensely talented roster to keep opponents consistently off balance on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field.

The Wildcats avenged an early season setback at North Carolina with 21 consecutive victories. After big wins over No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Notre Dame on the road, Josephs and Kjellman combined for eight goals in a 13-4 win over No. 15 Penn for the team's third-straight win.

The Wildcats kept rolling with dominant road victories over UMass and Boston before running into Syracuse's vaunted defense.

Kjellman scored two goals and posted one assist and set the all-time Northwestern record for total points in the hard-fought 10-7 win over the Orange. The Wildcats held Syracuse to its lowest offensive output of the season.

In early April the `Cats faced then No. 4 Duke in a rematch of the 2006 national semifinal thriller in Boston. In what was expected to be a tightly contested battle between two of the nation's top teams, Northwestern flexed its muscles that afternoon against the Blue Devils. Josephs busted out of a slump with six goals and Northwestern suffocated the Duke offensive attack in a dominant 17-5 win. Finch put on a defensive clinic that day, causing five of NU's 20 forced turnovers.

The Wildcats took down another top five team a week and a half later when No. 2 Maryland came to Evanston. Despite a tougher and more physical game, Northwestern again prevailed, 12-7, behind three goals from Kjellman, Frank and Hilary Bowen. Lathrop made 14 saves, one shy of her career high, including five in the first four minutes as Maryland attempted to steal the momentum.

After the regular-season and a fourth-straight conference title, the Wildcats headed into the inaugural ALC Tournament with a record of 15-1. They handily defeated Penn State (19-7) and Johns Hopkins (22-6) -- both top 20 teams -- in Baltimore to secure the title.

The Wildcats then earned the No. 1 seed in the 2007 NCAA Championship and faced Holy Cross at home in the first round. Josephs, Kjellman and Frank each scored three goals in a 19-7 victory. Kjellman collected nine of Northwestern's 20 draw controls, which helped limit Holy Cross to only 12 shots on goal. Finch continued her dominant defense play, forcing five turnovers.

The win advanced NU to the quarterfinals, setting up a rematch with seventh-ranked Syracuse. The Orange recovered from an early 5-1 deficit to tie the game in the first half. The Wildcats never relinquished the lead throughout, though, and pulled away in the second half to seal the 14-9 victory and a trip to Philadelphia for the NCAA finals. Josephs had three goals and an assist and Nielsen had one goal and two dimes in the win.

Sophomore Hilary Bowen was the MVP of the NCAA Championship, scoring five goals in the championship game.

Against Penn on their home field in the first semifinal, Northwestern delivered one of their most dominant performances of the year. The Wildcats quieted Penn's home crowd with an 8-0 halftime lead. They scored the first 10 goals of the game and held Penn scoreless until the 16:29 mark of the second half -- the longest scoring drought (43:31) to open a game in NCAA finals history. The first half shutout also marked the first time since 1991 that a team had been held scoreless in a half in finals history. Josephs led the way for the `Cats with five goals on six shots and Kjellman scored three as Northwestern advanced to the title game.

In the championship game, Northwestern looked poised to walk over another opponent. Nevertheless, after taking an 11-5 lead in the first half, third-seed Virginia stormed back to within one goal with 10:21 remaining in the game. Leading by one late, Lathrop made her biggest save of the year with 3:29 remaining to preserve the lead for the Wildcats. That save set up the game-clincher as Nielsen set up Katrina Dowd for the final goal of the game with 2:29 left in regulation, giving the `Cats a 15-13 win. Bowen, the championship MVP, led the `Cats with five goals, giving her 13 for the tournament.

A Historical Era
Looking back on the 2007 campaign and more generally, Amonte Hiller's tenure, the numbers are staggering.

Three NCAA national titles, four ALC championships, a 13-1 record in NCAA tournament play under Amonte Hiller, the best winning percentage (.928) of any coach in NCAA championship history, a 62-2 record over the past three seasons and a 32-game home win streak dating to 2004.

It's difficult to get a grasp on the scope of this team's success. But as this team and this run of championships becomes immortalized in Northwestern athletic lore over the years, fans will have a chance to do just that.

In the meantime, it's simply time to marvel at the overwhelming talent, success and sense of purpose this team and its coaching staff showed in these past three seasons and will continue to exhibit in the years to come.

What the Wildcats Did in 2007

Northwestern defeated 16 ranked teams (nine top 10) during the 2007 campaign.