Scouting the Opponent: North Carolina
In the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats had almost a week in between each game. Northwestern has a much quicker turnaround before the final against North Carolina, which will be played at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
The Cats and Tar Heels squared off in Chapel Hill in early March. The two teams had played about 10 minutes before the field was deemed unplayable because of the rain. The game was restarted the next day, wiping out North Carolina’s 4-2 lead from the day before, and NU sprinted away in the second half to win 12-7. It was the closest call the Cats had before Hilary Bowen tore her left ACL a month later.
The Tar Heels boast one of the stingiest defenses in the nation. They are ranked ninth in the country in goals against and held Maryland to seven goals, less than half of its season average. Against NU in the regular season battle, North Carolina held a healthy Bowen to just one goal. Junior attacker Katrina Dowd also scored only once, but she is a much better player now than she was then. The Cats scored on 12 of their 17 shots on goal, a relatively high percentage–the problem was their accuracy, since they had 33 total shots.
Hannah Nielsen recorded a hat trick in that game, but she has been struggling through one of the toughest stretches of her career. Both Princeton and Pennsylvania faceguarded her and kept her from scoring, and North Carolina has an ace defender in Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Amber Falcone. The Cats have been getting by without their star over the past few games–in the final, they need her to step up.
