Northwestern offense overpowers Danes after competitive first half

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- With just under two minutes remaining in the first half, the University at Albany women's lacrosse team trailed Northwestern, the No. 2 team in the country, by only two goals Saturday night at John Fallon Field. But after an inspired first 28 minutes of action, the Wildcats simply proved to be too potent on offense, and eventually pulled away from the Great Danes, who fell 21-11.

Key Stats

• Sarah Falk scored four goals and added one assist
• Grace McCauley scored three goals with one assist
• Katie Pascale scored once with two assists and seven draws
• Haley Phalines won nine draws

Head Coach Katie Thomson: "That was an unbelievable game.  Such an exciting game from start to finish.  Our players battled so hard, and we are so proud of their effort.  We had so many great plays and we couldn't be prouder."

How it Happened

• For the first time in history, the University at Albany women's lacrosse program welcomed Northwestern to John Fallon Field.  The teams had me twice before, in 2011 on the road and I 2017 for a neutral site matchup at Stony Brook.  Both previous games took place during the NCAA Tournament.
• Northwestern was 12-1 on the year and ranked second in the national polls, behind Syracuse, against whom the Wildcats suffered their only defeat of the season.  Since that loss, Northwestern had won 12-straight games to climb to two in the polling.
• Saturday was the second leg of a back-to-back for the Great Danes, who defeated UMBC 15-14 on Friday.  It was also UAlbany's second game against an opponent ranked second in the national polls, previously visiting Syracuse when the Orange were second.
• Northwestern scored within the first two minutes to take an early lead, but could not break through again until mid-way through the first quarter to go up 2-0.  UAlbany responded just over a minute later when Katie Pascale scored to put UAlbany on the board.  Pascale's goal kicked off a 3-0 run for the Great Danes, who took the lead on Ava Poupard's 10th goal of the season with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
• Northwestern quickly retook the lead on back-to-back goals before Sarah Falk scored her second of the first quarter to tie the game at four with 3:21 on the clock.  The Wildcats scored with 15 seconds to go to enter the second quarter leading 5-4.
• After the first half of the second quarter passed without either team breaking through, Grace McCauley scored her first of three goals on the afternoon to tie the game at five.  Northwestern responded with a three-goal run to lead 8-5 with 3:51 before halftime.
• McCauley recorded the highlight of the game to end Northwestern's brief run.  Bryar Hogg drew a free-position attempt and passed out of it before receiving the ball back again.  She found McCauley crashing towards goal.  McCauley's angle was off from the front, and she wrapped her shot behind the back and into the net to close the Great Danes within two.
• The Wildcats closed the first half on a 3-0 run to lead 11-6 at the break.  After a relatively even first quarter, Northwestern had gained some breathing room in the second outshooting UAlbany 9-3 and winning seven of nine draws.
• Shonly Wallace started the third quarter scoring for the Great Danes.  This goal led to a four-goal run for Northwestern, building their lead to 15-7 with 7:49 left in the quarter.  McCauley put away her third goal, off a setup from Pascale, to interrupt the Wildcats run, only to see Northwestern score twice more to take a 17-8 lead late in the third.
• Falk scored her third goal with 49 seconds in the third quarter, before Northwestern opened the fourth with a goal.  Allie Maloney netted her only goal of the game with 12:02 left on the clock, before Northwestern rolled off one final 3-0 run to go up 21-10.  Falk closed the game with her fourth and final goal, with 58 seconds left, bringing the final score to 21-11 in favor of the Wildcats.

Next: UAlbany visits Binghamton on April 15.