You may not be ready but the lacrosse season is upon us already. Sort of. Most teams will not start their real games for almost a month or more but scrimmages have begun in some cases and real games have even been played.

Northwestern, the reigning women’s NCAA Division I champion, has played two games, one official and one exhibition on a trip to California where, as you know, the girls are warmer. Warm enough to play lax in January. The champs, led by seniors Hannah Nielsen and Hilary Bowen, beat a pretty good Denver team, 24-6, and then Team Canada, which is preparing for the World Cup, by a score of 21-5.

Nielsen will star for defending champion Australia in the World Cup. The event will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from June 17 through June 27. Click here to read more about the World Cup.

Here are the unedited Northwestern releases on the Wildcats' wins:

Northwestern Roars Past Denver, 24-6, in Season Opener

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Led by five goals from senior Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and three a piece from senior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) and junior Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), Northwestern opened up the 2009 season in style, roaring past Denver 24-6 in front of 1,130 fans at Rancho Bernando High School.

The game served as the highlight of the inaugural WomensLax.com Surfside Cup Classic, and the fans who came to see some of the best women’s lacrosse talent weren’t disappointed. NU opened up the game by notching the first five goals, beginning with Spencer notching the first goal of the 2009 season less than a minute half into the contest. Denver would respond to cut the gap to 5-1, but that is as close as the Pioneers would get as the Wildcats would tally the next nine goals, with four of them coming off the stick of Bowen, to take a commanding 14-1 lead in the first half. Each team would register one additional goal with Nielsen registering her second of the night with less than a second remaining in the half to take a 15-2 advantage into the break.

The second half was more of the same, as the `Cats would tally the first seven goals to push the advantage to 20 at 22-2 and cruised to the 24-6 victory as 13 different players found the back of the net for Northwestern.

The big three for the Wildcats each finished with five points on the night, with Spencer and Nielsen adding three goals and two assists each to compliment the five goals from Bowen, who now moves into fifth place on the all-time points list with 238, surpassing Kate Oleykowski’s career mark of 235. A pair of impressive streaks also remained intact as Bowen has now scored at least one goal in 45 consecutive games while both she and Nielsen have registered at least one point in 45 straight contests.

Junior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown), sophomore Brooke Matthews (Baltimore, Md./Friends School) and freshman Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) added a pair of goals apiece in the victory, with Dowd also adding an assist to finish with three points. Seniors Meredith Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) and Casey Dononhoe (Jarretsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) also had a goal in the Wildcat victory.

It was a big night for the highly-touted Wildcat freshman class as well. In addition to the pair of goals from Smith, Alexandra Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) had a goal and an assist while also winning five draw controls, mirroring the total of her sister, while Jessica Russo (Port Jefferson, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) also notched her first career goal as a Wildcat. Sophomore Kendall Santulli (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) also recorded her first goal in an NU uniform in the second half.

Northwestern Routs Team Canada, 21-5, in Exhibition Showdown

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Northwestern continued its’ red-hot start to the 2009 season, blowing past Team Canada 21-5 in an exhibition game of the WomensLax.com Surfside Cup at Rancho Bernando High School. Senior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) paced the Wildcat charge, netting three goals and adding six assists in the victory, with senior Hilary Bowen (Rochester,
N.Y./Brighton) and juniors Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) each adding a hat trick.

Coming off a dominating 24-6 victory in the season opener against Denver Friday night, NU picked up right where they left off, netting the first 13 goals of the contest past Canada goalkeeper Kalley Greer, and held a commanding 14-2 halftime advantage. The Wildcats continued to have balanced scoring as 10 different `Cats tallied first half goals, led by two from Nielsen, Dowd and freshman Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon).

The two teams reverted to international rules in the second half, which allowed eight players in the attacking zone rather than seven, but the results were the same as NU out-dueled Canada 7-3 in the half to cruise to the 21-5 win. Nielsen led all players with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) while Bowen added four (3 goals, 1 assist) for the Wildcats.

Northwestern’s defense again came up big, as it held Canada to just four shots in the first half and 10 for the game, while also forcing 27 turnovers. Goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop (Briarcliff, N.Y./The Hackley School) allowed just four goals in 40 minutes of work while making a pair of big saves and causing two Canadian turnovers.

The Wildcat offensive charge continued to be one of the tops in the nation, firing 32 shots and landing 27 on net. Team Canada did hold a 16-12 advantage in draw controls, thanks in large part to six from former Maryland stand-out Dana Dobbie, who lead the Canadians with a pair of goals and an assist. Brooke McKenzie also added a goal and an assist in the loss.

NU now returns home to chilly Evanston with some time to prepare for the rest of its season. The Wildcats take some time off before traveling to Pittsburgh, Pa., to face Duquesne on Feb. 17.