enn women fall to Northwestern, 11-9, in battle of undefeated teams

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/26/09

Host Northwestern used a 6-1 second-half spurt to turn a 6-5 deficit around and claim an 11-9 victory over Penn Saturday night in a battle of two undefeated women’s lacrosse teams.

The top-ranked Wildcats are 17-0 while third-ranked Penn is 13-1.

After besting the Wildcats on draw controls in the first half, the Quakers fell victim to Northwestern’s stalling power. NU won seven of the 10 draws in the second and was able to maintain possession, and keep Penn from shooting or scoring. After taking 10 shots in the first, the Quakers were held to just five in the second.

Emma Spiro had a hat trick to lead the Quakers and Kaitlyn Lombardo scored twice. Hannah Nielsen led the ‘Cats with four goals.

In goal, junior Emily Szelest made five saves for Penn while her counterpart Morgan Lathrop made four saves.

After waiting out a driving rain and lightening, the Wildcats started by notching three goals early before Lombardo broke through for Penn. Spiro and Ali DeLuca scored again before Lombardo and Spiro put the Red and Blue ahead for the first time with 14:13 to play.

The teams swapped goals before the bell rang for halftime and Penn held a 6-5 lead. It was the first time this season NU trailed at the half.

The Quakers will wrap up the regular season with a home game against Stanford. The May 2 game will also be senior day for Penn honoring this year’s senior class.