Northwestern too much for Quakers

THE TROUBLE WITH being an underdog is that looming somewhere out there is the prohibitive favorite.

The prohibitive favorite is the team that makes everything looks easy, puffs its chest with confidence because it knows it's the best.

In other words, Northwestern.

The Wildcats quickly are becoming to women's lacrosse what UCLA once was to men's basketball, a dynasty so overwhelming they make everyone else look like some sort of JV team.

Unfortunately for Penn, there was no David Thompson to pull off the stunning upset (a la N.C. State vs. UCLA in 1974), there was just more of a juggernaut rolling forward.

Northwestern, with a roster that, coincidentally enough, counts three players from Westwood (Massachusetts in this case) continued its mastery last night, easily upending Penn, 12-2, at Franklin Field, in a national semifinal.

The Wildcats will face Virginia tomorrow night, looking for its third consecutive national championship. Virginia beat Duke, 14-13, in last night's other semifinal. Not since Maryland in the 1990s strung together seven in a row has a team won three straight.

Penn certainly has nothing to be ashamed of, not for its season and really not even for this game. Not since 1984 had the Quakers been selected to the NCAA Tournament field and never before had they made it to the Final Four. Karin Brower and her staff have resurrected a program from the ashes, taking a team that hadn't even enjoyed a winning record in the 5 years before they arrived, to the height of the sport.

"I told them they have nothing to hang their heads for," Brower said. "Nobody thought this team would be in the NCAA Tournament, let alone the Final Four. But we believed we could. This group has set the standard for what we want Penn lacrosse to be."

As for this loss, Penn certainly at least can say it is in good company. Northwestern is 61-2 in its last three seasons, its lone loss this year coming in its season opener at North Carolina. And the Tar Heels needed double overtime to get the job done.

The Wildcats have outscored their opponents by a stunning 346-122. By the time this weekend is over, they very well should break the single-season scoring record of 351 goals.

Regardless, senior Kristen Kjellman already has put Northwestern in the record books. With her hat trick last night, the defending player of the year set a NCAA Championship scoring record with 38 goals.

As impressive as the offensive numbers are, though, this time Northwestern's defense stole the show. With near flawless stick-checking and scooping up every ground ball, the Wildcats would have made Da Bears proud. The Quakers, a team that came into the game averaging 12 goals and 28 shots per game, got their chances, keeping pace with Northwestern, 20 shots to 21, but they simply couldn't find the back of the net.

"We beat ourselves today," said senior Chrissy Muller, who scored one of the two Quakers goals. "We took a lot of shots, but we didn't finish them. If we had, it would have been a totally different game. They're a very good team, and they deserved to win today, but we also beat ourselves."

Penn waited 43 minutes, 31 seconds to even get on the scoreboard, the longest drought in NCAA semifinal history, leaving Northwestern goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop wondering whether she might just pitch a no-no.

"I tried not to even think about it," the sophomore said.

Only 23 seconds after the Quakers scored, Hannah Nielsen scored for Northwestern, ensuring that the running clock that goes into effect in a sort of 10-run rule for women's lacrosse, got rolling again.

Of course, not too long ago Northwestern was Penn. Six years ago, women's lacrosse was a club sport in Chicago, a program on an 8-year hiatus as a varsity sport. Before that the history was less than impressive, an 11-year run that looked much like the rest of Midwest lacrosse, that's to say not like much.

Now the Wildcats are on the precipice of becoming the latest dynasty.

If them, Penn players now have to ask, why not us?

"Karin instilled in us a belief that we could be here," senior Sarah Eastburn said. "Last year, we had a great year, a winning record, a really good year. Karin instilled in us a belief that we could be here and play for a chance at a national championship and the four seniors, we really believed it. And now we've taken that next step and done that. Next year, we're going to take that one final step. I know we will."

Virginia trailed, 13-4, with 18 minutes to play and scored the final 10 goals of the game to win. The Cavaliers set the record for the biggest comeback in NCAA history.

Conestoga High graduates Jess Wasilewski and Megan Havrilla each scored three goals for Virginia. *