To the finals!

Last night was fun. The 'Cats absolutely stomped UPenn to advance to their third straight national championship game thanks to playing near-perfect lacrosse. NU shut out the Quaker offense for the entire first half, a feat that no team has accomplished since 1991. Aly Josephs was the hero with five goals, alongside her fellow senior Kristin Kjellman who added a hat trick. The game was all but over at halftime with Northwestern leading 8-0.

Will and I were marveling after the game: Hannah Nielsen, the sophomore sensation from Down Under, who leads the team with a mind-blowing 113 points, was almost entirely shut down by the Quakers. The 'Cats number one offensive threat and a finalist for national player of the year was virtually neutralized...and NU still won by TEN goals. That's a testament to the balanced nature of the Wildcat attack and the sense of teamwork Kelly Amonte Hiller instills in her players. It's a pleasure to watch.

I know it was already mentioned in the previous post, but WOW: DUKE?! What happened? We left the stadium when Duke started to take control late in the first half and Virginia seemed totally dead in the water. Trailing 13-4 in the second half, UVA stormed back for an almost-unheard-of 10 straight goals to win. We were chatting with coach Hiller back at the hotel last night, and she described the Virginia comeback as "one of the sickest things I've ever seen." No wonder she's such an awesome recruiter! Not only is she one of the greatest figures in women's lacrosse history, she's young enough to be able to use the adjective "sick" in lieu of "cool" without sounding lame.

So, as we enjoy Dillo Day here in Philly (don't expect any blog posts tonight), we are getting set for the big broadcast tomorrow night. Mark Murphy will join us on the pre-game, in addition to Kelly Amonte Hiller. Please join us at 5:45 CT for full coverage of NU/UVA. It's a rematch of the 2005 national championship, when NU dethroned the Cavs 13-10 in Annapolis, MD.

Go 'Cats!