Northwestern powers past Penn in women's lacrosse

The Northwestern women's lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in the nation for a reason.

The Wildcats, 10-0, who are on a 39-game winning streak that goes back to 2008, defeated Penn, 12-8, Friday night in a physical battle between two teams that have quickly become rivals.

"Our kids just like playing them," said Quakers head coach Karin Brower-Corbett. "This team has ended our season for the last three years. You can't help but get up for it."

Led by senior Katrina Dowd's four goals, Northwestern was able to capitalize on Penn's mistakes, at one point scoring five straight goals, to go ahead 9-3.

Every time Penn scored a goal that gained momentum and ignited the crowd, Northwestern responded quickly with a goal of its own.

"We are not afraid of making a mistake to take a chance and we don't play a slow offense," said Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.

"We play a high tempo game. So when you play high-tempo you can score goals."

It was these quick strikes with the combination of inaccurate shooting that did the Quakers in.

"That target on our back is very motivating," Dowd said. "We know every team is gunning for us, with all our success."

Freshman Maddie Poplawski, a midfielder, led the Quakers with two goals, both of which were unassisted.

Other scorers for the Quakers included sophomore attack Erin Brennan, senior midfielder Ali Deluca, senior attack Megan Smith, junior attack Giula Giordano, and senior attack Courtney Lubbe, who all had a goal apiece.

"We can be confident that we can face any other team," Deluca said.

"If we can compete against them like that, then we can play anybody."

Northwestern's leading scorer was Shannon Smith, who had three goals and one assist, giving her 32 goals on the year.

Senior Danielle Spencer and Jessica Russo, a sophomore midfielder each had two goals. Freshman midfielder Ali Cassera added one of her own as well.