Northwestern's faith in Dowd pays off with national titles
One minute the future was bright, full of promise.
The next, Katrina Dowd was staring at her achy knee, wondering if she would ever play lacrosse again, wondering what would happen with college.
The New York native was a high school phenom, getting scholarship offers from all of the best college lacrosse programs in the country. Then she went down with a knee injury during a game in the spring of her all-important junior year.
It was a torn anterior cruciate ligament, words no athlete ever wants to hear.
As Dowd feared, more than half of the colleges on her list fell off the face of the earth when they heard about her injury.
But a few stuck with her.
In fact, one in particular seemed to get only more serious about her.
No wonder Northwestern is winning lacrosse national championships left and right.
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller sure knows how to pick 'em.
Hiller still really wanted Dowd to come to Evanston, in spite of her injury. And now, five years later, that decision seems like shear genius.
Dowd, a senior, is up for lacrosse's national player of the year award - the Tewaaraton Trophy - after a season in which she led Northwestern to yet another NCAA Final Four.
The Wildcats are in Maryland this weekend going for their sixth national championship in a row.
Northwestern (20-1) beat North Carolina 15-10 on Friday in the national semifinals and will meet Maryland (21-1) on Sunday in the national championship game, which will be televised live on the CBS College Sports Network at 4:30 p.m.
"Kelly had faith in me that I would come back. She said she had confidence in me and that really meant a lot," Dowd said. "I was surprised that some teams that I was really interested in just totally dropped off and I know that Kelly could have done the same thing. She could have just said that she wanted to go in a different direction."
Hiller never gave it a second thought. She loved Dowd's athleticism and quickness, which is now widely feared by opponents from coast to coast.
And having gone through successful reconstructive knee surgery during her own playing career, Hiller knew it was possible for Dowd to come back bigger and better than before.
"She talked to me about how she came back. She said I could do that, too," Dowd said. "I think she likes players who have to go through something difficult and face a challenge. I think she likes that toughness you get."
Dowd didn't just like Hiller's loyalty, she loved it. And that made Northwestern an easy choice.
"The fact that she stuck with me really told me a lot about her. It was a testament to what kind of person and coach she is and it really made me want to go to Northwestern.
"It was hard when all those other schools were dropping out, but now, I couldn't be happier with how things worked out."
The Wildcats could say the same.
Dowd leads the team in points, goals and assists. She also ranks third in Division I in goals per game (3.88).
On top of that, Dowd has also proven to be at her best when the stakes are at their highest. Her play in the clutch, come tournament time in May, has earned her the nickname "Ms. May."
Last year, when she moved from midfield to attack to fill the scoring void left by former Wildcat star Hilary Bowen, who went down with, ironically enough, a season-ending knee injury, Dowd rolled up an NCAA Tournament-record 22 goals.
Of course, that record was secondary to the Wildcats' championship victory. It gave Dowd three national titles in three years.
"It's been amazing these past four years," Dowd said. "Getting to win championships, getting to play with the players I've gotten to play with - some of them are all-time greats who teach you so much.
"I couldn't ask for a better college experience. I couldn't be any more proud."
pbabcock@dailyherald.com