Northwestern
Canisius
No. 9 Wildcats Open 2017 versus Canisius
1/29/2017 8:26:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
| NORTHWESTERN LACROSSE: GAME DAY INFORMATION | ||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | LIVE STATS |
| Monday, January 30 | Canisius | 1 p.m. | Martin Stadium Evanston, Ill. |
GameTracker |
| Social: Twitter (@NULax and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NU_Lax) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | Canisius |
||||
EVANSTON, Ill. — The ninth-ranked Northwestern lacrosse program will open its 2017 campaign on Monday at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium versus Canisius.
Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. and admission to the contest is free. Fans are encouraged to park in the North garage of the Henry Crown Sports Pavillion for $8.
The contest was originally scheduled to be played at the Athletico Center in Northbrook, Illinois, but unusually good weather in the Chicagoland area allowed the 'Cats to move their season opener back on campus. A contingency plan remains in place to play at the Athletico Center should severe weather make it necessary.
GETTING THINGS STARTED
Northwestern will open its 16th season under Combe Family Head Lacrosse Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller on Monday when it takes on Canisius at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. The Wildcats and Golden Griffins will meet for the first time with opening draw scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Wildcats have won nine-consecutive season openers and 14 of the last 15 under Amonte Hiller. The 'Cats opened last season with an 11-8 win over No. 4 Duke in Durham, North Carolina.
CAT-NADIANS
The Canadian Lacrosse Associated and senior women's national team coaching staff announced last week the selection of Northwestern freshman Megan Kinna, junior Selena Lasota and senior Danita Stroup to the roster for the 2017 FIL Women's Lacrosse World Cup this summer in Guildford, England. The trio of Wildcats were a part of the U19 Canadian Team coached by Canisius' Scott Teeter that won the nation's first-ever world championship in 2015.
AMONTE HILLER NAMES TEAM CAPTAINS
Redshirt senior Christina Esposito and redshirt junior Sheila Nesselbush will serve as the Wildcats' co-captains for the 2017 season. Esposito returns for a fifth season after setting new career highs in goals (34), assists (22), points (56), ground balls (19), caused turnovers (20) and draw controls (16) last season.
Nesselbush led the Wildcats in goals (9) and ground balls (9) through four games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. The Penfield, New York, native was granted a medical redshirt and has two years of eligibility remaining.
IT DOESN'T GET ANY TOUGHER
Northwestern will once again face one of the toughest schedules in the country this season as 12 of their 17 opponents made it to the NCAA Tournament last season. Chicago's Big Ten Team faced the toughest schedule in the country last season according to the NCAA as its opponents combined for a win-loss record of 205.
• The 90 combined losses by NU opponents were the fewest of any team in the country.
• NU was one of just three teams in the country whose opponents combined for less than 100 losses last season.
IN THE CIRCLE
Junior Shelby Fredericks became just the third player in program history to 100 draw controls in a season with 11 last year. Fredericks led all sophomore in draw control per game last season and is the second-leading returning draw control specialist in Division I women's lacrosse behind only Hannah Murphy of UMass. Below are a few more notes on Fredericks' draw control prowess:
• Fredericks is third in Division I women's lacrosse among active players with 195 career draw controls.
• She is the active leader among juniors nationwide.
• Her 195 career draw controls rank eighth in program history, just three shy of Taylor Thornton (2010-13) and Alex Frank (2009-12) and four shy of NU assistant coach Hannah Nielsen (2006-09).
• With six draw controls, Fredericks will become just the fifth player in program history to record 200 in a career.
LASOTA STICK DROP
Junior Selena Lasota enters her junior season en route to becoming one of the greatest goal scorers in program history. Lasota has scored 119 goals through her first two seasons in purple and enters 2017 just 21 shy of cracking the program's top 10 list. Below are a few notes on where Lasota ranks nationally entering 2017:
• Ranks 13th in the country among active payers with 119 carer goals.
• Second among juniors nationwide. Canisius' Erica Evans is third among juniors with 110.
• Has score 2.83 goals per game in 42 career contests, ranking seventh in the country among active players.
OFFENSIVE MINDED
Despite the loss of Third-Team All-American Kaleigh Craig, the Wildcats return 74.7 percent (260-of-348) of their points, 79.8 percent (75-of-94) of their assists and 72.8 percent (185-of-254) of their goals scored from last season. A few notes below will shed light on how the 'Cats could help replace the production lost from Craig's graduation:
• The return of Sheila Nesselbush: The redshirt junior was the Wildcats' leading goal scorer with nine through four games last season before suffering a season-ending injury.
• Yenor came on strong: Sophomore Leighton Yenor scored appeared in just 13 games last season, but scored 15 of 17 goals during an eight-game goal streak at the end of the year.
• Selena Lasota: The Canadian superstar scored 69 goals in her freshman campaign before tallying just 50 last season. However, Lasota scored 35 goals in the final 11 games of the season, including contests in which she scored 8 vs. Ohio State, six versus Michigan and five versus Notre Dame.
