Vol. 6: Northwestern Takes Down No. 1 UNC, Hands Heels First Regular Season Loss since 2019
The Wildcats hold North Carolina to a season-low nine goals and wash away the sting of last year's Final Four defeat.
Northwestern attacker Izzy Scane infiltrates the UNC half in the March 19 upset of the Tar Heels. Scane finished with four goals in the win. Photo courtesy: Northwestern Athletics.
They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, meaning it’s better to wait to get payback on a rival than to respond right away. Northwestern had 10 months to let its heartbreaking, 15-14 loss in the Final Four sit before it got another crack at North Carolina. That chance came on Sunday, and the Wildcats were ready.
The game started physical and low scoring, with just two goals coming in the first quarter, but the dynamic duo of Izzy Scane and Hailey Rhatigan would not be denied. Northwestern used its high-powered offense and clutch defense to defeat No. 1 UNC, 13-9, at Ryan Fieldhouse in Evanston.
Neither team scored for the first 14 minutes of the game, as UNC goalie Alecia Nicholas and Northwestern goalie Molly Laliberty combined for eight first-quarter saves. Then sophomore midfielder Emerson Bohlig found the back of the net with 38 seconds left in the first quarter, and Northwestern was off to the races.
Rhatigan would add a goal 23 seconds later, giving the Wildcats momentum into the second quarter. They scored six more goals before halftime, including three from Tewaaraton Award frontrunner Izzy Scane.
UNC trailed, 8-4, at halftime and was playing catch-up from there. The Tar Heels’ two leading scorers—freshman attackers Kiley Mottice and Caroline Godine—each notched three points off the bench. Tar Heels starters had just six total points.
Northwestern’s defense forced UNC into unfamiliar territory. The Wildcats held the Tar Heels to a season-low nine goals, and UNC had 15 turnovers. Northwestern junior midfielder Kendall Halpern was the centerpiece of the back line, finishing with a team-high four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Scane and Rhatigan combined for seven goals, one assist and 15 of the team’s 32 shots. Scane has yet to score fewer than four goals in a game this season.
Northwestern’s win is its first over a No. 1 team since 2019 when it beat Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament. For UNC, the defeat marked its first regular season loss since 2019.
Wildcats head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller has her team humming on an eight-game winning streak entering Big Ten play. Earlier this month, she was named a 2023 Inductee to the IWLCA Hall of the Fame. In May, Northwestern will have a chance to make 2023 a historic year for the program as a whole.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. Syracuse is the new number one. Off to their best start in program history, the top-ranked Orange (10-0) are one of three undefeated teams in the Inside Lacrosse Top 25. The others are No. 4 Denver (10-0) and No. 13 Army (8-0). Kayla Treanor didn’t have a sophomore slump as a player, and she certainly isn’t having one as a head coach, either. She’s made the most of a healthy and uber-talented Syracuse roster that has generated the sixth-best scoring offense and seventh-best scoring defense nationally while taking down four top-10 teams so far this season.
Graduates Tessa Queri (20) and Meaghan Tyrrell (18) celebrate during Syracuse’s win over No. 6 Stony Brook. The Orange are ranked No. 1 in the most recent polls. Photo courtesy: Syracuse Athletics.
The Orange are second in the country in scoring margin (8.11 goals per game), and that was reflected in their most recent wins over No. 18 Duke and No. 6 Stony Brook, both of which were decided by at least five scores. Syracuse didn’t get that kind of breather last week when Loyola gave Treanor and Co. a scare for the second year in a row, entering the fourth quarter with a 7-6 lead. But a shutout final frame, capped by goals from Tewaaraton Award watch list honorees Meaghan Tyrrell and Megan Carney, turned the tide. Carney’s been on a heater recently. She’s totaled 11 goals in her last two games and leads the team with 40.
2. Richmond downs Virginia in double OT night game. Last Wednesday under the lights at Robins Stadium, Richmond got a statement win over then-No. 10 Virginia, downing the Cavaliers, 16-15, in double overtime. Senior attacker Arden Tierney finished off the upset with a dazzling game-winner that included a nasty fake and a diving shot. Tierney finished with three goals and an assist.
The game was about as close as they come. On top of needing over 65 minutes to decide a winner, shots (36-36) and saves (7-7) were even, and shots on goal were within one (23-22 Richmond). Spiders senior goalie Emily Bloyer came up clutch in the overtime periods, stopping all four shots on goal she faced after the fourth quarter.
Richmond started the year in the top 25 but fell out after sound losses to Navy and UMass. The Spiders’ win over Virginia was their first since 2020, and first at home since 2006. Since the UVA victory, Richmond also snagged wins over VCU and George Mason, and they take on Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.
3. Denver stays perfect with wins over Boston College and Jacksonville. Well, Denver’s defense is still elite. The Pioneers have not allowed double-digit goals in a game this season, and they kept that trend going with a pair of impressive wins over then-No. 4 Boston College, 13-8, and No. 21 Jacksonville, 12-7. The Pioneers jumped in front of the Eagles, 6-0, at the end of the first quarter on Sunday, paced by a pair of goals from senior captain Ellie Curry. She finished with a game-high four points. The Eagles made a push with three straight goals in the third quarter but could not overcome the early deficit. Denver sophomore goalie Emelia Bohi finished with eight goals allowed and six saves. She is first in the country in goals-against average (5.71).
Denver kept the momentum going Wednesday night with a similar win against Jacksonville at Rock Stadium. The Pioneers got in front of the Dolphins, 5-1, at the end of the first, and Denver would hold Jacksonville to just six more goals for the rest of the game. Coach Liz Kelly’s squad dominated in shots (32-21) and caused turnovers (11-4). The Pioneers are now 10-0 for the first time in school history. Next up, Denver finally starts Big East play with a Saturday game versus Villanova.
4. Navy beats Jacksonville and enters the Top 25. Loyola is 66-0 in regular season Patriot League play dating back to the start of the 2014 season. The Greyhounds have dominated the conference. This year, though, things feel different. Loyola, still No. 9, could very well win the league again. But they’re going to get a fight, and just from one team. Navy is the third, and newest, Patriot League team in this week’s Top 25. Army is still undefeated, and Boston University is turning heads, already matching its win total from the previous two seasons combined.
Freshman midfielder Ava Yovino flashes a one to her team with the ball in her stick. Yovino leads the nation in points with 57. Photo courtesy: Navy Athletics.
But back to Navy. The Mids have won five straight games since their overtime loss at Villanova on Feb. 25. They are 7-2 and No. 25 in the country. Their one-goal victory over No. 21 Jacksonville slingshotted them into the Inside Lacrosse Poll. It was a back-and-forth affair that included seven ties and five lead changes. Junior attacker Leelee Denton powered Navy with a career-high six goals, namely the game-winner, and sophomore netminder Emma Richardell logged a career-best 11 stops, eight of which came in the second half. Then there’s freshman midfielder Ava Yovino, who led the Mids with seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) and is first nationally with 57 points this season. Navy has six players with 14-plus goals, but Yovino is the architect of that offense.
5. James Madison takes hold of AAC with win over Florida. With a strong James Madison in the American Athletic Conference for the first time this season, we all had one AAC game circled on our calendar: James Madison vs. Florida. The Gators have won three straight conference titles, and the Dukes won four straight CAA championships from 2017-2021. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for the big matchup—it was the first game of AAC play on Saturday. Isabella Peterson and the Dukes used a 4-0 fourth quarter to pull away from Florida, winning, 14-9.
Peterson scored three goals and added an assist, and Katelyn Morgan and Maddie Epke each had four assists. Tied, 4-4, midway through the second quarter, JMU and Florida traded scoring runs the rest of the way. The Gators had a four-goal stretch led by Emma LoPinto, but the Dukes closed the game of a 5-0 run.
James Madison got another ranked win over No. 12 UVA, 10-8, on Wednesday night. The Dukes travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Saturday.
6. Winthrop beats Butler in TRIPLE OT. No, we’re not playing softball, but Winthrop and Butler needed seven innings— sorry— seven periods to decide Sunday morning’s game in Tennessee. After combining for 13 goals in the first half, defenses took over. Eventually, freshman attacker Scarlet Cifarelli found the back of the net in triple (!!) overtime to break the stalemate and give Winthrop a 10-9 win.
Butler led, 7-6, at halftime, and then neither team scored for six minutes to open the second half. Graduate midfielder Molly Dankowski and junior attacker Claire Witmer combined for the three Eagles goals in the third, and Winthrop’s defense was able to hold Butler to just two second-half goals. Witmer finished with three goals and an assist to lead all scorers. Junior middie Grayson McKenzie also notched a hat trick and had 11 of the team’s 29 shots.
The Eagles have a week on the road with games at Liberty on Thursday and High Point next Wednesday.
Weekly Focus:
AFTER BUILDING ITSELF BACK UP, PENN STATE ON TRACK TO END NCAA TOURNAMENT DROUGHT
Penn State celebrates after a March 11 victory over then-No. 17 Rutgers, the Nittany Lions’ first Big Ten win of the year after going 0-6 in the league in 2022. Photo courtesy: PSU Athletics.
Penn State made back-to-back Final Fours in 2016 and 2017. Since, the Nittany Lions have yet to finish a full season with a winning record. They were 5-2 in 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown. Two years before that, they made the NCAA Tournament with a .500 record but bowed out to Penn in the first round. In 2021, they beat Maryland—something they hadn’t done since 2005—not once but twice, except they finished 4-9 and missed out on May Madness for the third year in a row. That streak continued last year, as Penn State lost three games by one goal apiece to then-No. 11 Princeton, Ohio State and then-No. 19 Michigan and ended the season 6-9.
We’re coming up on the five-year mark of the Nittany Lions’ last NCAA Tournament appearance. Fortunately for longtime head coach Miss Doherty, that drought is all but over.
At least, that’s the way things are trending. Penn State is 8-2 and is quickly climbing the Inside Lacrosse Poll. Last week, the Nittany Lions cracked the Top 25. This time around, they rose five spots to No. 20. They’ve won four games in a row, two over ranked opponents—No. 23 Rutgers and No. 17 Princeton—and their two losses this season have been decided by a combined five goals. Maybe the sweetest part of all?
As documented this week in USA Lacrosse Magazine, this Penn State turnaround has been orchestrated by the duo of junior midfielder Kristin O’Neill and junior attacker Gretchen Gilmore, the No. 10 and No. 13 overall prospects in the 2020 class, according to Inside Lacrosse. O’Neill and Gilmore make up a highly-recruited duo that has stuck through the suck, if you will, and now are on the other side of the hill. They could have transferred like former teammate Olivia Dirks did—she did get a national title out of her move to UNC, after all—but they stayed put in Happy Valley.
“The opportunity to build our program back up with our best friends sounded way better than transferring to a program that was already good, at least for us,” O’Neill told USA Lacrosse Magazine.
O’Neill and Gilmore are doing just that. They lead the Nittany Lions with 36 and 27 points, respectively. And they have Penn State back on the map. To get back to May, however, O’Neill, Gilmore and, of course, Doherty—now in her 13th season—will have to hold their own in the Big Ten. That’s where six of Penn State’s nine defeats came in 2022. Continuing to turn close losses into close wins will be key down the stretch for the Nittany Lions.
Numbers to Know:
16 – Michigan sophomore midfielder Jill Smith already has 16 free position goals this season, good for first in the nation. Smith is converting on 53.3%, too, and she has the most free position attempts in the country with 30.
29 – Brown’s 29 draw controls in their 21-13 win versus Bryant on Tuesday night were the most by a team in a single game in 2023. Sophomore attacker Greta Criqui had eight, and sophomore defender Paige Gillen had another seven. Navy also had 27 against Bucknell in their game over the weekend.
3 – With UNC’s big loss to Northwestern, we’re down to three undefeated teams: Army (8-0), Denver (10-0) and Syracuse (10-0).
Tewaaraton Watch:
POINTS LEADERS
GOALS LEADERS
NOTE: Stats correct through March 21.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
Screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
As mentioned in our lead story, UNC is no longer No. 1. For the first time all season, and for the first time since the Tar Heels overtook the top spot from BC last March, UNC is not in the driver’s seat of the Inside Lacrosse Poll. That title now belongs to Syracuse. The Tar Heels dropped to No. 3. Northwestern is up to No. 2 (remember, the Wildcats’ lone loss is a one-goal defeat to the Orange). Unbeaten Denver is in the top four with its last two wins coming against BC and Jacksonville, which are now No. 7 and No. 21 by the way. At 9-1, James Madison is No. 5. The Dukes haven’t fallen since their opener against UNC and just topped both No. 8 Florida and No. 12 Virginia. Stony Brook also slid out of the top five to No. 6 with its loss to Syracuse.
UMass continues its ascent up the Top 25. The Minutewomen have gone from No. 24 to No. 20 to No. 16 in successive weeks. Yale leads the Ivy League pack at No. 14, then comes No. 17 Princeton and No. 24 Penn. Penn State made the jump from No. 25 to No. 20 after its victory over Princeton. No. 22 Clemson actually moved up two places after two non-conference wins and a seven-goal defeat to BC. Navy rounds out the poll at No. 25 following its win against Jacksonville.
What’s Ahead?
No. 23 Rutgers @ No. 15 Michigan, March 25, 6 p.m.
No. 9 Loyola @ Boston University, March 25, 12 p.m.
No. 11 Notre Dame @ No. 12 Virginia, March 25, 12 p.m.
Richmond @ St. Joseph’s, March 25, 3:30 p.m.
No. 22 Clemson @ No. 3 North Carolina, March 26, 12 p.m.
Stanford @ No. 2 Northwestern, March 26, 2 p.m.
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