By Hasa Kingo
The Daily Northwestern
A must win. Despite mustering 11 consecutive wins, that is how No.1 Northwestern is approaching today's CSTV-televised showdown against No. 13 Johns Hopkins.
With a win against the Blue Jays (8-5, 1-1 American Lacrosse Conference), the Wildcats (11-1, 2-0 ALC) can edge one step closer to solidifying their place atop the ALC standings and secure an automatic NCAA tournament bid in the process.
Achieving that goal will not be easy. Johns Hopkins has won three of its last four games and is coming off a 12-9 upset of No. 7 Virginia last Friday.
The Blue Jays also feature one of the nation's top players in attacker Mary Key, who leads the country in goals (51) and points (92). Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said a key to the Cats' strategy will be finding an effective way to contain Key.
"Mary Key is a tremendous player, so we're going to have to worry about her a lot during the game," Amonte Hiller said. "She's going to be fired up for this one."
During NU's recent homestand, Amonte Hiller said one of the most noticeable improvements in the team was its defense. NU currently leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing 5.8 goals per game. The Cats have only allowed one team, Notre Dame, to score more than ten goals in a game.
Sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop and junior defender Christy Finch have played a big role in the defense's success. Lathrop leads the nation in goals-against-average (5.81) and is third in save percentage (.570), while Finch is third in the NCAA in caused turnovers per game (2.8).
Last week Lathrop made eight saves on 21 shots against No. 8 Penn State and 14 saves on 35 shots against No. 2 Maryland.
"She stepped up for us," Amonte Hiller said. "It's great when you know as a defender that if you get the other team to take a rushed shot, Morgan is going to make that save."
Lathrop said if the team can get rolling on defense against Johns Hopkins, containing Key shouldn't be a problem.
"Our defense is ready to stop anyone," Lathrop said. "We have seven great defenders, so one person is not going to be able to penetrate them that easily."
NU currently has the nation's top-ranked scoring offense to go along with its stingy defense. The Cats have netted 16.7 goals per game.
"Our best defense is our offense," Lathrop said. "Our offense is so patient with the ball and so good at attacking that half of the time the other team doesn't even have a chance to get the ball."
The Cats' meeting against the Blue Jays will be their first road game in six outings. NU leads the all-time series against Johns Hopkins 4-2, and have won the last three contests. Last season NU defeated Johns Hopkins 17-5 in Evanston.
Focus will be instrumental to the Cats' success this weekend, according to Finch.
"(Johns) Hopkins is a big rival of ours for our conference, so we just need to focus on ourselves and work really hard," Finch said.
Reach Hasa Kingo at h-kingo@northwestern.edu.
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