Wildcats

Girls basketball No. 7 Archbishop Spalding @ No. 1 St. Frances WHEN: Wednesday, 6 p.m. OUTLOOK: The Cavaliers are one of few teams that could give the six-time defending Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference champions a challenge. They have a strong backcourt led by Jany Brinkley, but they also have height in 6-foot F Jordan Clinton. The Panthers, however, have exceptional speed and quickness in their back court with four strong guards. including All-Metro player Shatyra Hawkes.

Northwestern coach Doug Robertson called his Wildcats "The Road Warriors" for having to play all of their games away from home thanks to renovations to the school's gymnasium. "There were times where we practiced at recreation centers for only 45 minutes a day," said Robertson, whose 15th-ranked Wildcats made his 13th season a lucky one. "You want to play in your own gym in front of your own fans, but our kids never were able to do that. I had to convince them that every place we played was their home gym, and I guess they've believed in that."

Facing No. 1 Northwestern's stingy defense can be a daunting task for any opponent - even the one with the nation's leading scorer. Johns Hopkins senior Mary Key leads Division I women's lacrosse with 7.08 points per game, but the Wildcats certainly will try to shut her down tomorrow night at 6, when they meet the No. 14 Blue Jays for an American Lacrosse Conference game at Homewood Field. Key, of course, is used to all the attention. The St. Mary's High School graduate is leading the nation in points for the third straight year.

Arundel was in a hurry last night in Gambrills, building a 7-1 lead in the first 12 minutes before visiting Broadneck knew what hit them in suffering an 11-8 defeat.Senior attack John Navarro opened the scoring in the first minute, and the Wildcats got two goals each from sophomore Chase Gompers and senior Henry Hanburger to go up 5-1 after the first 10 minutes."We came out fired up, and they told us they were ready to go," said Arundel coach Clint Gosnell. "They seemed liked they were a little bored -- anxious to get out there and get started."

Dressed for the occasion in new pinstripe, vest-style white uniforms, No. 2 Arundel defeated top-ranked Severna Park, 8-2, at Joe Cannon Stadium in Harman's last night to win its first Anne Arundel County championship game.The Wildcats (16-5), who have won more state titles (eight) than any school in Maryland history, had not won the county championship game since its inception in 1996. The inaugural game was rained out with Arundel and Old Mill declared co-champions.In taking its third victory over Severna Park (17-4)

It wasn't a storm watch issued by Arundel coach Bernie Walter on Tuesday. Rather it was a warning -- and his Wildcats didn't listen.One day after top-ranked Arundel posted a sterling, 8-0 opening-day victory over Frderick's Thomas Johnson, the same team didn't show up in Gambrills.The host Wildcats were upset yesterday by No. 15 Old Mill, 6-3.It was the third straight year that the Patriots (1-1) have defeated the Wildcats in their first meeting.Arundel went on to the Class 4A East region final the two previous years and ultimately won the state championship last season.

An inning was all it took yesterday at Broadneck for the Arundel Wildcats to show why they are the metro area's No. 2-ranked team and strong contenders for the Class 4A state title.The scrappy Bruins were within one run in the bottom of the fifth and had two runners on when the Wildcats' defense ended the threat with an unconventional double play.In the top of the sixth, the Arundel offense had its say when Sarah Polger delivered a two-out, two-run single, providing the Wildcats with a 5-3 win.The Wildcats improved to 17-2 on the season and 13-2 in county play, all but assuring a spot in Tuesday's county championship game.

The last two seasons, Northwestern surprised Lake Clifton with late-season victories.But in last night's Class 4A North region semifinal at Dunbar, the No. 11-ranked Lakers brought an inspired defense and shut down the No. 20 Wildcats, 45-33.Lake Clifton will play No. 6 Southern-Baltimore for the region title tomorrow afternoon, with the winner moving to the Class 4A state semifinals a week from today at Cole Field House.Kenny Purnell led Lake Clifton (15-6) with 12 points, and Teoine Carroll added 11. Roland Carmichael led Northwestern (13-10)

NEW YORK -- When Maryland last met Kentucky, the Wildcats were defending NCAA champions and the Terps were in position to claim their first-ever No. 1 ranking.The stakes aren't as high, but the stage is a little grander, as two programs that are reliant this time on potential, not proven talent, will collide at Madison Square Garden tonight at 8 in the second semifinal of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament.Arizona and upstart Notre Dame meet in the first semifinal, with the consolation and championship scheduled for Friday.

NEW YORK -- Maryland's youth was exposed early and Kentucky's late, as the Wildcats escaped the semifinals of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament with a 61-58 victory over the Terps last night at Madison Square Garden.In a tale of two halves, No. 24 Maryland fell behind by 16 points three minutes before the break. The Terps tightened the defensive screws in the second half to force a tie with 6: 35 left, got solid play throughout from Terence Morris and weren't done until Juan Dixon's 30-footer from the left wing rimmed out in the final second.

South River sophomore midfielder Anna D'Ambra had a couple of choices to consider when she ran on to a through ball in the second overtime of Wednesday night's game against rival Arundel: pass or shoot. She chose the latter, and it proved a smart decision as she neatly placed a shot into the lower left corner with 2:58 left to give the No. 5 Seahawks a resilient 2-1 home win over the No. 3 Wildcats in Anne Arundel County girls soccer. South River improved to 10-2 overall and 8-1 in Anne Arundel, handing Arundel (11-1, 8-1)

Towson coach Rob Ambrose compared playing New Hampshire in Saturday's Colonial Athletic Association opener to jumping into the deep end of a pool. The Tigers had every reason to be concerned about the undefeated Wildcats, who are ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision and have the CAA's top defense by allowing 213 yards per game. Already facing an uphill battle, the Tigers didn't do themselves any favors by committing eight turnovers in a 57-7 loss before an announced 8,026 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

In the first half of Thursday night's game against visiting Broadneck, third-ranked Arundel's high-flying offense struggled with penalties and an interception inside the red zone that killed a 10-play drive. The Wildcats' defense, however, was dominant all night, finishing with five takeaways, and set the tone for a 28-6 victory. The Wildcats improved to 3-0 in Anne Arundel County and appear to have all the pieces to make a deep playoff run. "We need to stop the penalties," Arundel coach Chuck Markiewicz said.

EVANSTON, Ill. - -Northwestern was so dominant in the first quarter Saturday, the Wildcats barely had to flip to Chapter 2 of their playbook. Mike Kafka led three touchdown drives in the quarter and passed for a career-high 192 yards to lead Northwestern to a 47-14 victory over Towson, spoiling Rob Ambrose's debut as Tigers coach. The Wildcats (1-0) scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and then got a safety while building a 30-0 lead and never looked back. Towson simply was no match, which was no surprise.

Northwestern's women's lacrosse team seemed vulnerable Friday, when it needed double overtime to beat pesky Penn in an NCAA Division I semifinal. But Sunday, the Wildcats left no doubt about how dominating they can be. In the most overwhelming performance in tournament history, the No. 1 Wildcats rolled over No. 5 North Carolina, 21-7, for their fifth-straight championship before an announced 6,515 at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Wildcats (23-0) have the second-longest Division I women's lacrosse title streak behind Maryland's seven in a row between 1995 and 2001.

One thing is for sure when No. 1 Northwestern meets fifth-ranked North Carolina on Sunday evening for the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship - there won't be any snow. When the two teams met in Chapel Hill in March, their first attempt to play was rained out. Their second went on despite a couple of inches of snow overnight, temperatures in the 30s and wind - weather more akin to the Wildcats' home on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Wildcats apparently didn't mind; they won, 12-7.

Northwestern's Katrina Dowd has scored more goals than any other player in the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament, and her record-breaker would make any highlight reel, but not just because it put the No. 1 Wildcats in position to play for their fifth straight national championship. With her team trailing by a goal in overtime of Friday night's tournament semifinal, Dowd made a desperation dive to save a loose ball and flipped it over her shoulder into the goal. The junior attacker seemed to have no angle toward the net, but her 18th tournament goal tied the game at 12 in the first overtime and Meredith Frank's goal won it, 13-12, over No. 4 Penn one minute, 27 seconds into sudden-death double overtime at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University.

No. 1 Northwestern (21-0) vs. No. 4 Pennsylvania (15-2) When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. Outlook: The Wildcats won the title last season, 10-6, over Penn, but the Quakers are the last team to beat the four-time defending champs, on April 27, 2008. The Wildcats have won 27 straight since. A goal-scoring machine, Northwestern needs just eight goals to break the Division I single-season record of 380 set last season by Syracuse. A lot of that offense starts with Hannah Nielsen (59 goals), the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy winner who has an NCAA-record 75 goals this season as well as a career record 216. She had seven points in the regular-season 11-9 win over the Quakers.

The 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores scored the game's first seven goals en route to an 18-8 win over visiting Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays have lost four straight and slipped to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in the American Lacrosse Conference. The Commodores (7-3, 2-1) won their fourth straight. The Commodores needed just 10:15 to put the game's first seven goals on the board as six players scored in the opening run. Junior Brett Bathras stopped the run and put Hopkins on the board when she scored unassisted with 17:31 to play.

The crushing full-court press wasn't getting anything done against unflappable Siena. A double-digit lead had evaporated. And, from those black folding chairs on the Louisville bench to the plastic red-and-blue seats all around the arena, it was clear to everyone that the top-seeded team was starting to panic. Coach Rick Pitino called a timeout and made a challenge. "You've got to prove to yourselves now you're a great basketball team," he told his rattled players. His carefree senior got the message.