NCAA Lacrosse: #1 Northwestern Women’s Lacrosse Defeats #6 Stanford 18-6 In Season Opener Feb 10

Top-ranked Northwestern handled a challenging season-opening road test with relative ease Friday night, outscoring No. 6 Stanford 11-2 in the second half to secure an 18-6 victory at Cagan Stadium in California.Stanford picked up 48 points and six first place votes to earn the top spot in the 2012 MPSF Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Cardinal has won the last seven MPSF Championships, appearing in three NCAA Tournaments in that span (2006, 2010, 2011).

Senior Shannon Smith and junior Erin Fitzgeraldeach posted hat tricks to lead a group of 12 Wildcat goal-scorers.

Northwestern was aided by a 20-6 advantage on draw controls, led by the nine collected by sophomore Alyssa Leonard.

“We didn’t start out the way we wanted to defensively but I thought we really picked up in the second half,” said head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. “Stanford is a great team so it was important for us to create opportunities and we were able to do that and earn some free positions. It’s a solid first step for everyone to see what they need to work on before next week.”

Speaking strictly of the offensive play, both teams looked to be in mid-season form immediately from the opening draw. Just 32 seconds into its season, Northwestern held a 1-0 lead thanks to an unassisted goal by Taylor Thornton. Smith got on the board for the first time less than a minute later when she collected a loose ball in front of the cage and quickly pushed it home to make it 2-0.

Stanford regrouped and knotted the score at two shortly after, but the Wildcats regained the lead when Ali Cassera finished a feed from Erin Fitzgerald. Cassera made it two in a row with her free position score, then Fitzgerald got into the scoring column when she dodged hard to her right and fired top shelf to give Northwestern a 5-2 lead with 18:32 still remaining in the first half.

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