Score: #1 Northwestern 25, UAlbany 8
 
Location: Ryan Fieldhouse in Evanston, Ill.
 
Records: UAlbany (1-6) | Northwestern (7-1)
 
Short Story: The UAlbany women's lacrosse program closes out its three-game road swing with a 25-8 defeat at defending national champion and top-ranked Northwestern.
 
Key Stats

• Katie Pascale scored two goals and recorded three assists
• Grace McCauley scored three goals
• Megan Dineen, Haley Phalines, and Ava Poupard each scored once
• Northwestern outshot UAlbany 41-18
• The Wildcats put 30 of 41 shots on target
• Northwestern's Saratoga Springs native, Lindsey Frank, scored two goals 

Head Coach Katie Thomson: "While we didn't have the result, we have to look at our positive takeaways to build off of and things we learned.  Our draw unit did a fantastic job every single draw fighting and competing for possessions, and going toe-to-toe with Northwestern.  We are read to get back to work when we return."

How it Happened

• The University at Albany women's lacrosse team faced its toughest test of the early 2024 season on Sunday, paying a visit to top-ranked defending national champion Northwestern to close out a three-game road trip.  The Wildcats had visited Albany last season, coming away with a 21-12 victory over the Great Danes.
• Northwestern was the fifth top-25 team on UAlbany's schedule so far, and the third top-three team, with the Great Danes already having played at #3 James Madison and #2 Boston College.  UAlbany had most recently earned its first victory of the season, 15-7 over Colgate on the road.  Northwestern had secured wins over #5 Syracuse, #20 Colorado, #1 Boston College, and, most recently, #10 Denver on Friday night, while suffering its lone blemish on the schedule against #8 Notre Dame.
• Northwestern took less than 80 seconds to score Sunday's first goal, but UAlbany responded right away.  After Haley Phalines won the ensuing draw, Megan Dineen raced through the middle of the defense for her first goal of the season, and her first since March 4, 2023 against Colgate.
• The Wildcats scored each of the next three, a run kicked off by Saratoga Springs native Lindsey Frank, who joined Northwestern during the offseason as a graduate transfer from Richmond, where she was one of the top scorers in the Spiders' program history.  With 7:05 remaining in the first quarter, Ava Poupard broke open into the middle of the Wildcats' defense to convert a setup from Katie Pascale to bring her team within 4-2.
• Before Poupard's goal, UAlbany goalkeeper Grace Cincebox made a big stop with 8:00 on the clock to prevent Northwestern from taking a 5-1 lead.  The Wildcats were playing woman-up, and Cincebox denied Frank's open shot along the near post.
• Izzy Scane, Northwestern's reigning Tewaaraton Award winner, scored her first goal of the game with 5:24 remaining in the first quarter.  Scane returned for a sixth season after scoring 99 goals last year to lead the nation.
• Grace McCauley scored just over 30 seconds later, her first of three goals, to keep the Great Danes within striking distance.  Northwestern's offense came alive, scoring each of the final five goals of the quarter over the final 3:14, including one with just one second on the clock, to take a 10-3 lead into the second.
• Northwestern's run continued through the early part of the second quarter, building to seven unanswered before McCauley converted a setup from Pascale to briefly interrupt the Wildcats' run.  Northwestern responded with another 7-0 run, triggering the running clock with their first double-digit lead of the afternoon, 14-4, with 8:59 remaining in the quarter, and ultimately took a 17-4 lead into halftime.
• By the end of the run, the Wildcats led 19-4 with 11:35 left in the third quarter.  McCauley scored her third-straight goal for UAlbany, off another setup from Pascale, breaking Northwestern's scoring run yet again.
• McCauley's goal initiated a three-goal run for the Great Danes, capped off by back-to-back scores from Pascale to close the third quarter.  After Northwestern scored to start the fourth, Haley Phalines found the back of the net with 10:28 left in the game for UAlbany's eighth goal.  Northwestern would score the final five goals of the game from that point on, and clinch a 25-8 victory.
• Despite an early UAlbany advantage of 8-5 on the draw, and later 12-10, Northwestern regrouped in the second half to finish the game with a 18-16 advantage in the circle.  The Wildcats also outshot UAlbany 41-18, and put 30 of their shots on target.  Pascale finished with five total points, on two goals and three assists, while winning four draws and one ground ball.

Next: UAlbany opens America East play on March 16 against Binghamton.