Northwestern gives UF lacrosse lesson

EVANSTON, Ill. – Florida’s first-year women’s lacrosse team was no match for No. 2 Northwestern Sunday afternoon as the five-time defending NCAA champion Wildcats scored a 19-5 victory over the Gators at Lakeside Field.

Janine Hillier led coach Amanda O’Leary’s Gators with two goals while Cara Canington matched her career-high with 11 saves in the net. The Wildcats (15-2, 5-0 American Lacrosse Conference) led 14-0 at the break. In the second half, Florida (9-7, 1-4 ALC) played Northwestern even, scoring five goals on seven shots.

Northwestern scored two goals in the opening minute of the contest. Shannon Smith scored four goals in the first half and 11 different players scored for Northwester, which outshot the Gators 39-12. Danielle Spencer and Alexandra Frank each had five draw controls, while Katrina Dowd had two goals, three assists, four draw controls and three ground balls.

After the Wildcats opened the second half with another goal to build a 15-0 advantage, Florida got on the board with back-to-back goals by Hillier and Caroline Chesterman. Later in the half, the Gators scored three straight goals by Colby Rhea, Hillier and Kitty Cullen to make it 17-5.

Cullen totaled two points on a goal and one assist. In addition to two goals, Hillier had two draw controls and two ground balls for Florida. The Gators had 11 ground balls in the game and only five draw controls.

Florida will now prepare for ALC tournament action this week in Columbus, Ohio. After tiebreaking procedures in conference play, the Gators end up as the No. 6 seed for the tournament and will face No. 3-seed Johns Hopkins at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6. The winner will face No. 2 seed Vanderbilt Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the ALC Tournament semifinals.

AMERICAN LACROSSE CONFERENCE

Conference Overall

(Rank) School W-L Pct. W-L Pct.


(2) Northwestern 5-0 1.000 15-1 .938

(7) Vanderbilt 4-1 .800 11-4 .733

Johns Hopkins 3-2 .600 10-6 .625

(17) Penn State 1-4 .200 9-6 .600

(18) Ohio State 1-4 .200 9-7 .563

Florida 1-4 .200 9-7 .563

(rank) Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association ranking

RESULTS

FRIDAY, April 30


Northwestern 11, Virginia 8 (OT)

SATURDAY / May 1

Penn State 14, Temple 3

SUNDAY / May 2

Northwestern 19, Florida 5

Johns Hopkins 9, Ohio State 8

SCHEDULE

AMERICAN LACROSSE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Host: Ohio State University / Columbus, Ohio / Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium

Thursday, May 6 quarterfinals

(4) Penn State (9-6, 1-4 ALC) vs. (5) Ohio State (9-7, 1-4 ALC), 3 p.m.

(3) Johns Hopkins (10-6, 3-2 ALC) vs. (6) Florida (9-7, 1-4 ALC), 5:30 p.m.

Friday, May 7 semifinals

(1) Northwestern (15-0, 5-0 ALC) vs. Penn State-Ohio State winner, 3 p.m.

(2) Vanderbilt (11-4, 4-1 ALC) vs. Johns Hopkins-Florida winner, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 8 championship

Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.

RANKINGS

April 26, 2010

INTERCOLLEGIATE WOMEN’S LACROSSE COACHES ASSOCIATION


1. Maryland (16-1); 2. Northwestern (13-1); 3. North Carolina (14-2); 4. Virginia (13-4); 5. Duke (12-5); 6. Pennsylvania (12-3); 7. James Madison (13-2); 8. Towson (12-3); 9. Syracuse (12-4); 10. Vanderbilt (11-4); 11. Dartmouth (10-3); 12. Georgetown (9-5); 13. Loyola,Md. (11-5); 14. Notre Dame (10-5); 15. Stanford (11-5); 16. Hofstra (10-5); 17. Ohio State (9-6); 18. Penn State (8-6); 19. Rutgers (10-4); 20. William & Mary (9-7).

deBEER / INSIDE LACROSSE MEDIA

1. Maryland (16-1); 2. Northwestern (13-1); 3. North Carolina (14-2); 4. Virginia (13-4); 5. Penn (12-3); 6. Duke (12-5); 7. James Madison (13-2); 8. Towson (12-3); 9. Syracuse (12-4); 10. Dartmouth (10-3); 11. Vanderbilt (11-4); 12. Georgetown (9-5); 13. Loyola, Md. (11-5); 14. Notre Dame (10-5); 15. Stanford (11-5); 16. Hofstra (10-5); 17. Boston College (10-5); 18. Denver (12-4); 19. Albany, N.Y. (12-2); 20. Rutgers (10-4).

LAXPOWER.COM COMPUTER

1. North Carolina (14-2); 2. Northwestern (13-1); 3. Maryland (16-1); 4. Duke (12-5); 5. Pennsylvania (12-3); 6. Syracuse (12-4); 7. Virginia (13-4); 8. James Madison (13-2); 9. Georgetown (9-5); 10. Vanderbilt (11-4); 11. Towson (12-3); 12. Dartmouth (10-3); 13. Loyola, Md. (11-5); 14. Hofstra (10-5); 15. Johns Hopkins (9-6); 16. Notre Dame (10-5); 17. Albany, N.Y. (12-2); 18. Boston College (10-5); 19. Stanford (11-5); 20. Penn State (8-6); 21. Ohio State (9-6); 22. Florida (9-6); 23. Rutgers (10-4); 24. Denver (12-4); 25. Princeton (6-9).