P.J. Stanley, Collegian

The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team hopes to get back in the winning column by traveling to Evanston, Ill., to take on perennial powerhouse and three-time defending national champion Northwestern this Sunday.

This will be the second straight year in which the two teams have faced off and their seventh all-time meeting. UMass (1-5) is 1-5 all time against the Wildcats while Northwestern (5-0) has won the past five meetings dating back to 1984.

Last year, the Minutewomen suffered an 18-4 loss to the No. 2 Wildcats, at the First Annual Friends of Jaclyn Murphy Foundation Benefit Game held in Yorktown, N.Y., on March 23.

The game was held in honor of 12-year-old Jaclyn Murphy, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in March 2004.

Three Wildcats had hat tricks, led by attackers Meredith Frank and Hilary Bowen, who each had three goals and three assists for six points, respectively.

UMass jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from Kathleen Typadis a little over two minutes into the game. However, Northwestern scored the next 15 goals and led by that margin midway through the second half. Again, Typadis found the back of the net with 16:35 left in the game.

The Minutewomen had the final two goals of the contest, one by midfielder Holly Drown and another by attacker Claire Mancini, but the game was out of reach, giving UMass a .500 record at 4-4.

Northwestern outshot the Maroon and White, 35-10, and held a draw control advantage, 15-9.

The No. 1 Wildcats are undefeated and have outscored opponents 99-33 so far this season and have a 26-game winning streak. Northwestern will try to continue the streak when it open its American Lacrosse Conference schedule today against Ohio State.

UMass coach Alexis Venechanos is optimistic for this weekend’s matchup despite the Maroon and White’s losing five straight to four ranked opponents.

“We have a lot of things to work on ourselves,” Venechanos said after yesterday’s loss to No. 11 Yale.

“When we get opportunities, we need to put some goals away.”

UMass continues to be outscored by its opponents, despite averaging 7.5 goals per game. The experienced defense led by Julie Papeleo and Jackie Rosenzweig must contain the potent Wildcat attack led by Bowen, who has a team-leading 24 goals and four assists and Hannah Neilson (14 goals and 15 assists).

Sophomore midfielder Danielle Spencer also has 20 goals with two assists for Northwestern.

The Minutewomen face a tough challenge, going against a defense that has only allowed slightly over six goals per game.

Venechanos is returning to compete against the program where she was an assistant coach for three seasons, and will face a Wildcat team filled with players she helped recruit.

We have to do some things defensively; we have to work on communication,” Venechanos added.

“We have to bring the ball up together. We are going to work on a lot of things we need to do, and that will definitely help us [against] Northwestern.”

David Brinch can be reached at [email protected].