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June 3, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Frank revels in title

by Jerry Spar/

Casual observers will look at the ultimate result — Northwestern capturing its fifth straight NCAA championship — and probably assume it was business as usual for the Wildcats.

But this title was anything but easy. The final was a 21-7 blowout of North Carolina, but the semifinal against Penn on May 22 in Towson, Md., was one of the most memorable games in tournament history.

Northwestern had a four-goal lead with 9:14 remaining, saw Penn storm back to tie the game with 90 seconds left, then traded goals in the first (mandatory) overtime. In the second (sudden-death) OT, Meredith Frank, a senior from Westwood, Mass., delivered the deciding blow 89 seconds in, shooting through a crowd of defenders from about 12 feet away for the dramatic ending.

For Frank, the situation reminded her of another game two years earlier.

“We had been in a sudden-death situation my sophomore year, so I was kind of thinking about that,” said Frank, one of eight Massachusetts players on the Northwestern roster (four from Westwood). “In the previous one, we won the ball off the drop and we controlled it, but we never took a shot. Eventually, we lost the game [9-8 to North Carolina].

“So, going into this one, all I was really thinking about was that one game. If we won that draw control, we were going to need to take a shot, regardless of who took it or where it was from.”

Frank got her opportunity and took advantage by shooting a little quicker than she normally would.

“I saw my teammates clear through, saw that I had an opportunity, and by the grace of God it went through,” she said after returning to her school’s suburban Chicago campus. “I was trying to replay it in my head, before I saw the film, and I didn’t know where the shot went, didn’t know where the defender was. It’s so not conventional for anything that I ever do. I just saw the defender start to collapse, I shot it, and I was hoping, praying that it would go in.”

Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller (Hingham, Mass.) breathed a sigh of relief after the win that set up her team’s fifth title in her eight years at the school.

“This game was definitely a thriller and it feels incredible to come out with a win,” she said after the game. “I am sure the fans that were here got their money’s worth. I am so proud of our team.”

The Wildcats showed no letdown in the final two days later, routing a North Carolina team despite two goals and an assist from Tar Heels All-America junior midfielder Jenn Russell (Andover, Mass.).

For Frank, the championship marked the end of a memorable career at Northwestern. The national rookie of the year as a freshman, she was a first-team All-American as a sophomore and a second-team All-American her final two seasons. She won national championships all four years. And this one came with her sister Alexandra, a freshman, by her side‚ along with fellow Bay Staters Ali Jacobs (Westwood), Sara Harrington (Westwood), Rachel Fox (Andover), Darby St. Clair-Barrie (Scituate), Caitlin Jackson (Norwell) and Maria Tedeschi (Norwell). The Wildcats also had senior midfielder Hannah Nielsen, an Australian who won the Tewaaraton Trophy as national player of the year.

“This was one of the most bittersweet weeks of my life,” said Frank, who will spend the summer interning at the Baltimore Ravens NFL training camp and is considering graduate school for sports administration in the fall. “I had a year to play with my sister, and I probably won’t ever get to play with her again. And this senior class is so special. It really has been remarkable.

“It’s so sweet that we won the national championship. It’s such a special feeling, to have it with this group of girls, to have it with my sister, to have it with this senior class. I’m so, so thankful for it.”