Lacrosse: Northwestern Women Prepare to Defend NCAA Title
Written by playerpress.com, Tuesday December 09 2008
With four consecutive titles to their name, the Wildcats are already dreaming of when they can begin their drive for number five. One thing is certain; they will not be taking an easy way back to the Final.
Their 17 game schedule includes 10 teams ranked in the top 20. In January they will open their season in California facing a Denver team they did not see last season.
Their road trip continues with games against Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Georgetown. Last season they faced the Fighting Irish in the playoffs and won the American Lacrosse Conference title with a win over the Commodores. Both the Tarheels and the Hoyas are ranked in the top 10.
Included among their home games is a match against Syracuse. The Orange was their semifinal opponent in last season’s Championship Tournament. Although the Wildcats are in the midst of a 44 game consecutive win streak at Evanston, the Orange are always a tough team to face.
After a road trip to Baltimore to play the rebuilding Johns Hopkins the Wildcats return home to conclude their regular season with a matchup against last season’s Finals foe Penn. The Quakers ended their season 17-2 and were 7-2 on the road. So, again, the Northwestern home streak will be put to the test.
Northwestern will be presented an opportunity to defend their ALC title and move on to the NCAA’s when they travel to Penn State for the Conference Tournament at season’s end.
Princeton is an early season pick to be a contender in the playoffs and they are preparing with an equally difficult 16 game schedule. Included among their games are matches with playoff veterans, Penn, Temple, Duke, Maryland and Virginia.
Penn, Maryland and Virginia are all ranked higher than the ambitious Tigers. Already playing in the tough Ivy League, the addition of strong non conference teams demonstrates Coach Sailers contention that Princeton prides itself on facing the best talent available.
They will jump straight into the fire when they open their season by hosting Johns Hopkins. Although Johns Hopkins struggled last season they are usually a solid team and a comeback is expected. They follow this with a road trip that includes a visit to Duke. The Blue Devils gave Penn all they could handle before bowing out in the NCAA’s. Included in the trip is a game against traditional rival Rutgers.
Before getting into league play Princeton will host the Temple Owls. Currently the Tigers hold a 10 game win streak over the Owls. Once the league series begins the Tigers host Yale, Harvard and Columbia, but will travel to Philadelphia to face last season’s Ivy Champs Penn.
Before returning home to conclude their Ivy schedule against Cornell, Princeton will travel to meet Dartmouth. The series is tied at 15-15 with Big Green having won last season.
The Tigers have a huge mountain to climb to reach the Finals, but they are returning a solid core and have added some exciting players. The team believes it can win the Ivy and make some noise in the Tournament. It may be time for a new power in women’s lacrosse and the Tigers could be the team of destiny.
Tags:
Leave a comment
Not So Fast! To publish your comment, you have to login
Not Registered? Register now as it only take 20 seconds!
Click here to browse
0 comments