Northwestern

Maryland and Northwestern haven't played during the regular season since 2007, but the two most successful NCAA women's lacrosse tournament teams are well-acquainted with each other. In 2010, the Terrapins won their 10th NCAA title by beating the Wildcats, 13-11, to end Northwestern's string of five straight championships. Last year, the Wildcats took the title right back, edging Maryland, 8-7. This year's showdown between the teams that have combined to win 15 of the past 20 NCAA titles comes a round earlier, in a national semifinal.

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Maryland senior attacker Kristy Black , a Glenelg graduate. Black is one of the key cogs in a balanced Terrapins attack, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with 37 goals and 21 assists. She still holds several state tournament scoring records from her days as an All-Metro midfielder at Glenelg. She and the No. 3 seed Terps will play in their fourth straight NCAA semifinal when they meet Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m. in Stony Brook, N.Y. Why did you choose to play at Maryland?

It usually isn't big news when a Big Ten team moves into the Associated Press poll. It is when that team is Northwestern. The Wildcats moved into the poll Monday at No. 25, their first appearance since January 1969, when it was still a Top 20. With Kansas again a runaway No. 1, as it has been since the preseason poll, the top eight remained the same for the third straight week. Northwestern (10-1) has won nine straight since a loss to Butler. The Wildcats, the only team from a BCS conference never to play in the NCAA tournament, were ranked for three weeks in 1968-69.

Maryland and Northwestern haven't played during the regular season since 2007, but the two most successful NCAA women's lacrosse tournament teams are well-acquainted with each other. In 2010, the Terrapins won their 10th NCAA title by beating the Wildcats, 13-11, to end Northwestern's string of five straight championships. Last year, the Wildcats took the title right back, edging Maryland, 8-7. This year's showdown between the teams that have combined to win 15 of the past 20 NCAA titles comes a round earlier, in a national semifinal.

Shannon Smith, Northwestern Senior, West Babylon NY, Attack Last season's Tewaaraton Award winner helped keep the No. 1 Wildcats' record perfect by scoring five times, including the insurance goal in overtime, as the defending national champs rallied from four goals down to beat Syracuse, 11-9, on the road last week. That performance boosted her career goals to 201, and the Long Island native became the fifth Wildcat to exceed 200. With one goal in a win over Oregon on Saturday and two in a victory Sunday over Louisville, Smith boosted her career total to 204 and moved into fifth place on Northwestern's all-time list.

Michelle Tumolo scored her third goal of the night with 51 seconds left to force overtime, where No.11 Syracuse fell, 11-9, to top-ranked Northwestern at the Carrier Dome. Erin Fitzgerald and Shannon Smith each recorded a goal in overtime to seal the win for the visiting Wildcats (3-0). Junior Michelle Tumolo led the Orange (1-2) with five points on three goals and two assists. Sophomore Katie Webster had three goals. Smith scored five goals and had one assist for the visitors.

The defending national champion Northwestern women's lacrosse team will play its second game in two years in an NFL venue Saturday, taking on Ohio State at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., home of the New England Patriots. The event will feature a women's lacrosse double header with No. 2 Syracuse taking on Harvard at noon followed by the undefeated Wildcats playing No. 16 Ohio State at 3 p.m. Among the four teams, 18 players hail from New England. Last season, the Wildcats played William & Mary in Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, who grew up in suburban Boston, jumped at the chance to showcase her No. 1 team to Gillette.

When it comes to winning tradition, not many college programs are as steeped in success as Maryland and Northwestern women's lacrosse. Maryland has won 11 national championships, including 10 since the NCAA took over the sport in 1982 and seven in a row between 1995 and 2001. Northwestern has five — consecutive titles between 2005 and 2009. Between them, the Terrapins and Wildcats have combined for 13 national crowns in the past 16 years. By Sunday night, that will be 14 national crowns in 17 years.

Defending Class 1A state champion and No. 4 Dunbar continued its march to the state finals at UMBC's RAC Arena on Wednesday. Michelle Wright scored a game-high 17 points and the host Poets beat Northwestern, 57-27, in a Class 1A South regional semifinal. The Poets (16-6) will face the winner of Ben Franklin-Masonville's game with Surrattsville in Saturday's regional final. No. 14 Century 58, Walkersville 40: Alice Mercer scored 19 points and Jamie Clark added 16 to power the host Knights (22-3)

Brooke Matthews (Friends) notched a hat trick as top-ranked Northwestern closed out the road portion of its 2010 season with a 13-6 victory over No. 18 Penn State. Katrina Dowd recorded four goals and added three assists for Northwestern (11-0, 2-0 American Lacrosse Conference). ... Molly Ford ( Notre Dame Prep) had three goals and three assists as No. 14 Georgetown (7-5, 5-0 Big East) withstood a second-half rally to beat host Louisville, 17-13. ... Kim Cudmore (Bel Air)

Shannon Gilroy, Florida Freshman, Northport , N.Y., midfielder In Saturday's American Lacrosse Conference tournament final, Gilroy single-handedly matched Northwestern with seven goals in the Gators' 14-7 victory that earned the third-year program the No. 1 ranking and its first No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. The defending national champions had allowed an average of just 7.3 goals, and Gilroy matched or exceeded the offensive output of 12 Wildcats opponents.

Et cetera Hopkins women fall to No. 1 Northwestern in ALC semifinal, 13-9 Johns Hopkins matched top-ranked Northwestern goal for goal in the second half, but the damage had already been done. The Wildcats (17-1) won, 13-9, in an American Lacrosse Conference semifinal Friday in Gainesville, Fla., and stand poised to claim their sixth conference title in a row. The Wildcats, who led 8-4 at the half, got four goals overall from Shannon Smith . Candace Rossi had two goals and an assist for Hopkins (9-9)

Sam Hurster got open in front of the net with 4.7 seconds left and finished off the upset as Brown beat top-ranked host Cornell, 10-9, at Schoellkopf Field. The Bears improved to 6-7, 2-3 Ivy League, while the Big Red dropped to 9-2, 4-1. The loss ruined Cornell's Senior Day celebration and ended its national-best 15-game winning streak. It also dropped the Big Red a game behind Princeton in the standings heading into next weekend's showdown in New Jersey. The winner of that game will host the Ivy League tournament.

Sixth-ranked Notre Dame overcame a four-goal halftime deficit Sunday to beat host Georgetown, 9-7, in men's lacrosse. The victory extended the Fighting Irish's winning streak to eight games. Notre Dame (9-1, 4-0 Big East Conference) trailed 5-1 at halftime, but outscored the host Hoyas 8-2 in the second half, including six straight goals to open the half. The Irish defense allowed the Hoyas (5-6, 1-3) just two goals in the final 36:47 of the game. Junior goalie John Kemp made 13 saves for the Irish.

No. 3 North Carolina (13-1) @ No. 1 Northwestern (12-0) Friday, 7 p.m. Outlook: Defending national champion Northwestern has won 21 straight games and is beating teams by an average of 8.6 goals, but the Wildcats have had a couple of close calls, needing overtime to dispense with then-No. 2 Syracuse and then-No. 13 Ohio State. The Tar Heels have that same upset potential. Although they're well behind in the series, 8-2, the Heels pushed the Wildcats to overtime last season before falling, 7-6. Both teams have played nine ranked opponents, with North Carolina's only loss coming in overtime.

The defending national champion Northwestern women's lacrosse team will play its second game in two years in an NFL venue Saturday, taking on Ohio State at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., home of the New England Patriots. The event will feature a women's lacrosse double header with No. 2 Syracuse taking on Harvard at noon followed by the undefeated Wildcats playing No. 16 Ohio State at 3 p.m. Among the four teams, 18 players hail from New England. Last season, the Wildcats played William & Mary in Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, who grew up in suburban Boston, jumped at the chance to showcase her No. 1 team to Gillette.

When Northwestern's Shannon Smith made her move to goal in the waning seconds of Friday night's NCAA Division I women's lacrosse semifinal, she knew she was going to score the game-winner. Smith had already scored three goals, and one more would put the Wildcats in the championship with a chance to avenge last year's title game loss to No. 1 Maryland. After a foul that put her out wide to the right of the goalie, she made her move "There was no Plan B for me," Smith said. "I was waiting for the clock to hit 30 [seconds]

Big-game experience and pedigree won out for Northwestern on Friday night. The five-time defending NCAA DivisionI women's lacrosse champions eliminated stubborn North Carolina, 15-10, in front of a record crowd at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Wildcats' victory sets up a marquee final Sunday against top-seeded Maryland. The two most decorated programs in women's lacrosse have accounted for 15 national championships between them, 10 by the Terrapins, who won seven straight titles from 1995 to 2001.

Men's college lacrosse No. 16 Villanova shocks No. 7 Syracuse, 11-10   No. 16 Villanova made history with an 11-10 win over host Syracuse on Sunday, handing the Orange (4-3, 2-1) its first-ever Big East Conference loss since the league was formed for men's lacrosse in 2010. Villanova (5-3, 1-0 Big East) also broke a four-game winless streak against Syracuse. The game featured seven lead changes and six ties as the Wildcats came back from a two-goal halftime deficit.

Molyneaux took over at Northwestern in 2007 after building a dynasty at nearby Western, where the Doves won three state titles and 16 Baltimore City championships. "The kids have to come to practice, and that's the bottom line," Molyneaux said at the time. "If they don't come to practice, they won't get any better. " They've certainly done better. In Molyneaux's fifth year there, Northwestern was the runner-up in Baltimore City, the Class 1A Central region and at the state meet.