Sept. 13, 2009

Box Score

Next Contest
Fri., Sept. 18 • vs. Missouri State • Evanston • 2 p.m.

OXFORD, Ohio -- After leading Miami (Ohio) by a 3-1 margin at halftime on the strength of two goals by Chelsea Armstrong and one by Sarah Marcincin, Northwestern surrendered a goal early in the second half as the RedHawks pulled to within one. But the Wildcat defense would not budge beyond that as NU protected its lead and held on for the road win, improving to 6-2 on the year.

Northwestern is off to its best eight-game start to a season since the 1995 campaign when it also started 6-2.

"Miami really battled us hard all afternoon but fortunately we played well enough in the first half to give ourselves a little breathing room in the second," said NU head coach Tracey Fuchs. "Any win on the road is a good one. We're just looking to improve again this week in practice so we can be ready for two good teams next weekend."

Following her four-goal outburst against Central Michigan on Saturday, Armstrong immediately picked up right where she left off when she took the field against Miami (Ohio). Less than three minutes into the contest, Armstrong put a shot past RedHawk goalkeeper Kelsey Dean after a setup by Marcincin gave Armstrong a clear look at the cage.

Miami responded by tying things up seven minutes later when Mary Hull scored in the run of play against the Wildcat defense.

Northwestern reclaimed the lead at the 14 minute mark thanks to Marcincin's penalty corner goal--the third penalty corner goal of the weekend for the Wildcats--when Marcincin finished a pass by sophomore Regan Mooney. NU outshot Miami by a narrow 12-11 margin but also held a 7-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Armstrong kept momentum on NU's side with her team and conference-leading 12th goal of the season, taking a pass inside the circle from Elizabeth Dobbs and beating Dean for the second time on the afternoon. Eight games into this season, Armstrong is already just the third Wildcat player since 2004 to score at least 12 goals in a season.

Dobbs is now tied for the team lead with three assists in 2009.

Hull notched her second goal of the day less than three minutes after the start of the second half, slamming in a rebound off the post to give Miami hopes of completing a comeback.

But Northwestern's defense, led by junior goalkeeper Katie Lynch, held firm over the final 32 minutes of the game. The win was Lynch's third as a starter this season.

Northwestern has a chance to continue its winning ways at home next weekend when it hosts Missouri State at 2 p.m. Friday and Saint Joseph's at noon Sunday at Lakeside Field.