One day after seven inches of snow fell in Evanston, No. 4 Northwestern rode an avalanche of nine straight first-half goals to a 17-10 victory over Boston College in its 2013 home-opener Wednesday at Lakeside Field. With the victory, 12th-year Wildcats head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller became the ninth active coach in NCAA women’s lacrosse to reach 200 coaching wins for her career.
Northwestern senior All-American attacker Erin Fitzgerald tied a career best set twice before with her team-high five goals on the evening and also set a career high with four caused turnovers. Defensively, senior Gabriella Flibotte put forth a tremendous effort by setting career highs with six caused turnovers — tied for second-most in a single game in Wildcats history — and five ground balls.
Flibotte (4), Alyssa Leonard (4), Taylor Thornton (5) and Lauren Murray (3) accounted for all 16 of Northwestern’s draw controls on the evening, with NU holding a 16-12 edge over the visiting Eagles.
After the game, Amonte Hiller asked if it was fitting that her 200th win as coach of the ‘Cats came with a four-foot high pile of snow ringing Lakeside Field and temperatures that had fallen below freezing shortly after the opening draw.
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“That’s why I love this place,” Amonte Hiller said with a smile. “You have to be tough to play here. You have to be strong, mentally and physically.”
Through most of the first half, Northwestern looked as strong on both ends of the field as it has thus far in the 2013 season. After the Eagles’ leading scorer, sophomore Covie Stanwick, recorded the first point of the night just under three minutes into the game, senior Amanda Macaluso scored the first of nine consecutive Wildcats goals with a successful right-to-left dodge across the fan.
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