Northwestern lacrosse tops seventh-ranked Virginia

There were always going to be growing pains for a young Northwestern lacrosse team. There were certainly some last weekend, and there were some again Saturday.

But for a second game in a row, the Wildcats persevered. This time in a low-scoring affair at the Cobb County Classic in Atlanta, Ga., Northwestern (2-0) endured a prolonged second-half scoring drought to down No. 7 Virginia by a score of 6-5.

After the Wildcats blew a 5-2 second-half lead, and went scoreless for over 20 minutes of game time, sophomore Sheila Nesselbush scored with 3 minutes remaining to give Northwestern the lead. Senior goalkeeper Bridget Bianco then came up with a huge save to preserve the victory.

Nesselbush, Kaleigh Craig and Selena Lasota all notched two goals for NU. Bianco had 9 saves, many of them crucial.

Northwestern returns to the Midwest this week to take on Duke Thursday in Northbrook, Ill., before hitting the road again to battle Marquette on Saturday. The Wildcats are ranked 5th in the nation.