By Hasa Kingo The Daily Northwestern
Stay focused, play strong and hope to avoid an upset. Leave the regular season record at the door and ignore the talk of a three-peat.
If top-seeded Northwestern (15-1, 4-0 American Lacrosse Conference) can do all of that against Penn State (9-7, 1-4) in the semifinals of the inaugural ALC Tournament Friday, coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said they will have a good chance to earn a victory.
"Anytime you go into a tournament, there's definitely a lot more excitement," she said. "We want to make sure we go in and take it one game at a time, building momentum and improving on our last performance."
The Wildcats head into the tournament carrying a 15-game win streak and a conference record of 20-1 since 2004. Entering Friday's contest, the Cats will count on the senior leadership of several players, including midfielder Kristen Kjellman, who was recently named conference player of the year.
"We're going to continue to do what we've been doing all year," Kjellman said.
NU claimed the ALC regular-season title outright last week by beating Ohio State, securing a first-round bye in the tournament.
Amonte Hiller does not want her players to be complacent despite their five days rest of rest. In practice this week, she reminded the team that both Atlantic Coast Conference teams that received first-round byes in this season's ACC tournament - No. 5 Maryland and No. 6 Duke - were defeated in their first game. Amonte Hiller told the Cats she does not want to see them repeat that fate.
"Every team is a great team, so you can't ignore anyone," she said. "We have a lot of respect for our conference opponents, so it should be a very exciting weekend."
Although it has fewer teams then most conferences, the ALC has established itself as one of the toughest leagues in the nation this season, with all five teams consistently ranked in the Inside Lacrosse top-20 poll.
"Tournament games are always a lot more intense than the regular season," sophomore attacker Hannah Nielsen said. "Everyone is gunning since its one and done, so it forces you to play the best you can and leave it all on the field."
With NCAA tournament seeding on the line, the Cats will guard against the Nittany Lions' ferocious attack, although Penn State dropped its April meeting with NU, 19-8, in Evanston.
In a win against Ohio State on Thursday, Penn State midfielder Kim Kontson stepped up for the team, tallying four points while leading scorer Jessi Lieb sat out due to injury. That kind of balance has been integral to the Nittany Lions success on offense all season long. Four players on the team netted at least 20 goals this year.
"I think Penn State is coming off a little bit of a downward spiral at the end of the season, so they're trying to reenergize and refocus," Amonte Hiller said. "I think really it's anyone's ballgame when it comes to tournament time."
On Friday the Cats' defense, which surrenders an NCAA-best 5.6 goals per game, will try to put a stop to the Nittany Lions' attack.
"There have been so many upsets and surprises this season," sophomore attacker Hilary Bowen said. "You always keep that in the back of your mind, and you try to go into every game knowing that you don't want to feel that way again."
Reach Hasa Kingo at h-kingo@northwestern.edu.
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