April 9, 2014
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Vanderbilt lacrosse team.
But, with just four games left in the regular season, the Commodores still remain confident as they head into a week with two top five teams on the schedule.
“We definitely had a little rough patch but we come out here every single day still trying to get better, making each other better, doing whatever we can to get ready for the game,” goalkeeper Maddie Kratz said. “It’s a new game every single time. We’re going to show up every single day and see if we can get those wins because we need them.”
Vanderbilt (4-8, 1-2 American Lacrosse Conference) will be upset-minded this week as it hits the road to play two tough league foes – No. 5 Northwestern on Thursday and No. 4 Florida on Sunday. Up first are the Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in Evanston, Ill. A live stream of the game will be available on nusports.com.
To call Northwestern a lacrosse juggernaut would be an understatement. The Wildcats have reached the Final Four each of the past nine years. They’ve played in the championship game eight times since 2005 – winning the national title seven times.
Vanderbilt has lost 12 straight to Northwestern, last winning in 2004 when the Commodores reached the Final Four. The Wildcats lead the series 12-3.
Northwestern has won four in a row – all against ranked opponents, including handing No. 1 North Carolina its first and only loss on March 31. The Wildcats (8-3, 2-1) rank eighth in the country by allowing just 7.45 goals a game. Sophomore midfielder Kaleigh Craig leads the team with 22 goals.
“There is always a lot to prepare for because they are obviously a really, really good team,” Kratz said. “We’ve been working really hard. We had a great practice (Tuesday). Everyone came out really sharp, which is so important before the game.”
The Commodores have lost six of seven and two straight. But they do own two victories over ranked teams this year – against No. 13 Stanford on March 2 and No. 9 Johns Hopkins on March 29.
They are coming off a 16-5 loss to No. 17 Ohio State on Sunday. One of the positives in that game was Kratz, who made her first start since March 23. The junior matched a career high with 12 saves after she notched six saves in 30-plus minutes of work against Harvard the game before. Kratz, who has made the first 10 starts of her career this year, said she worked with coach Cathy Swezey on changing her approach. She has been more aggressive and has played higher in the crease.
“It felt really good to be able to go in and play to what I know I am capable of,” Kratz said. “It was nice to be in there again. I enjoyed playing even though the outcome wasn’t we were hoping for.”
SCORING TRIFECTA
Spearheading the ‘Dores offense is a three-pronged attack -senior attacker Abby Wheeler, sophomore midfielder Kelly Chandler and sophomore attacker Mallory Schonk.
The trio has combined for 69 goals – more than half of the team’s 135. Wheeler, who scored five against Harvard last week, leads the team with 27 goals. Chandler is right behind with 25 and Schonk has 17 goals in addition to a team-high 20 assists. Wheeler’s career-high seven goals against Stanford on March 2 are the most for VU this season and second most in program history.
RAMZY’S CAREER DAY
Meggie Ramzy tied a career high with two goals against Ohio State on Sunday. She was the team’s most aggressive attacker against the Buckeyes, twice scoring unassisted. She matched her personal best of two goals scored in the season opener against Kennesaw State on Feb. 7. Ramzy, a junior from Lutherville, Md., has five goals this season.
RANKED FOES
The schedule has been anything but kind to the Commodores this year.
By the end of the week, Vanderbilt will have played 11 teams who are ranked this week in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association weekly poll: North Carolina (1), Florida (4), Northwestern (5), Penn State (8), Penn (9), Massachusetts (10), Stanford (12), Johns Hopkins (13), Ohio State (17), Louisville (19) and Denver (20).
To put that in perspective, only five of Vanderbilt’s 16 regular-season foes this year are unranked. Of the top 20 teams in the country, the Commodores have played more than half of them. Vanderbilt is 2-7 against teams currently ranked, with wins over then-No. 13 Stanford and then-No. 9 Johns Hopkins.
The NCAA released its first women’s lacrosse RPI of the season and the Commodores were ranked 39th. Five ALC teams ranked in the top 30 – Northwestern (5), Florida (6), Penn State (20), Ohio State (22) and Johns Hopkins (27).