 Media Credit: File photo by Tommy Giglio/The Daily Northwestern Junior Hannah Nielsen has been the catalyst of the NU attack the entire season. Nielsen has a team-high 104 points on 48 goals and 56 assists. The Cats will need all of Nielsen's offensive wizardry this weekend as they seek another NCAA championship.
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This weekend in Towson, Md., the lacrosse world will witness a clash of titans.
No. 1 seed and three-time defending champion Northwestern faces off against the high-octane offense of No. 4 Syracuse in the semifinals of the NCAA lacrosse championship.
To make matters more intense, the teams have a history.
They met earlier this eason at Syracuse on March 24. The Orange played NU tough early, and the game was deadlocked 5-5 at halftime. But once the Wildcats returned for the second period, they took over.
NU scored 10 consecutive goals on its way to a 19-7 win, the worst loss of the season for the Orange.
Since the loss, Syracuse has won 11 straight games and leads the country in scoring with 18.51 goals-per-game. The Orange are sixth in scoring defense, allowing just 7.86 goals per contest.
The Cats, who are second in scoring defense with just 7.00 goals allowed per game, will need all they can get from their talented backfield to combat Syracuse's high-scoring offense.
"We know their whole offense can't be taken lightly, and their whole team is very dangerous," junior Hannah Nielsen said.
Goalie Morgan Lathrop is second in the country with a 6.86 goals-against-average, just behind Penn's Sarah Waxman. The junior hasn't been as sharp as last year, when she recorded a 5.92 GAA and a .576 save percentage, but her defense is keeping shots away from the net.
Nielsen said that Lathrop's play in net will be crucial to slowing down the Orange.
"(Lathrop) is pretty fired up for tomorrow's game," she said. "If the team defense plays well, then we'll be well prepared."
Led by the play of senior captain Christy Finch, the Cats are still confident their defense can stop the best in the game.
And like the Orange, NU has bounced back with a vengeance since its last loss.
2008 Woodie Awards
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