STONY BROOK, N.Y. – There was nothing Syracuse could do.

Without a stalling penalty in women’s lacrosse, Northwestern held possession late in Sunday’s NCAA championship game to limit SU’s chances and preserve its two-goal lead.

The Orange players could only attempt to force turnovers as the Wildcats ate up large chunks of time – including over 2:30 of the last three minutes – and spoiled SU’s first-ever national championship berth.

‘They had the ball a lot so when we got the ball it was a lot of pushing toward the net, so we didn’t have the best opportunities,’ SU attack Alyssa Murray said.

No. 2 seed Northwestern (21-2) slowed down the pace of the game and beat the fourth-seeded Orange (19-4) 8-6 at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y. Sunday night. The Wildcats capitalized on a 12-4 draw advantage in the game and dominated possession in the second half, holding SU to just two goals on seven shot attempts. Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s trademarked slow-down approach worked as her team won its seventh national championship in eight years.

NU’s Alyssa Leonard tallied a game-high six draw controls, keying a 4-0 run spanning 22 minutes and turning momentum squarely in NU’s favor. She scooped up four consecutive draws near the end of the first half to set up Wildcat goals.

‘I was just looking to get the ball straight up as far as quickness and get my hands to the ball first, and it worked for me today,’ Leonard said. ‘If I didn’t go to myself, my teammates were right there and ready for ground balls, loose balls, anything.’

NU star defender Taylor Thornton was one of those teammates, finishing with five draw controls – second on her team and more than SU tallied all game. 

After SU freshman attack Kailah Kempney scored with 10:15 left in the first half to put the Orange ahead 4-2, the Orange offense failed to record another shot for nearly 15 minutes.

And playing with the lead for most of the second half, the Wildcats stalled.

Reigning Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Shannon Smith quarterbacked the Northwestern offense from behind the cage and multiple times in the second half stood in her position for minutes at a time.

‘You have to have the ball to keep the momentum going and we just didn’t,’ SU head coach Gary Gait said. ‘We didn’t have a lot of opportunities and yet we were still in it. If you don’t win the draw, you can’t have many opportunities on offense.’

But the Orange came back, thanks in part to a series of impressive saves by sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Costantino. SU tied the score at 6-6 with 11:08 left in regulation, but the meticulous Wildcats offense responded.

Thornton carried the ball around the fan left to right with 10 minutes left. She sprinted around a screen and down the right alley. SU defender Becca Block got caught up on the screen, Thornton burned past a sliding Jill Cammett and fired a shot over Costantino’s left shoulder and into the cage.

‘I was pretty poised, we had possession on the attack,’ Thornton said. ‘Me, Shannon (Smith) and Amanda (Macaluso) were faceguarded for a little bit, but once we got the ball, the idea was to clear space and go to goal. I saw a good opening for my right hand and just kind of went for it.’

Smith tacked on an insurance goal four minutes later and following an illegal stick call on SU midfielder Sarah Holden and three yellow cards on Syracuse, the Wildcats ate up the majority of the remaining time and secured the win.

‘You have opportunities and you need to step up,’ Gait said. ‘It was one of those weird games and you want to possess the ball and control the draw. They did that which made it very difficult.’

sebail01@syr.edu

Published on May 27, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1