Northwestern’s seniors didn’t get the result they wanted in their final regular-season game at Lakeside Field.

But in a close loss to rival Florida, the Wildcats found production from some unusual places.

Most surprising was sophomore midfielder Spring Sanders, who took control of a loose draw, darted past the Florida defense and dashed down the field on a breakaway to score her first career goal.

Fellow sophomore Lauren Murray also came through with a score, the fifth tally of her career.

Jess Carroll was an even bigger contributor on offense. The junior midfielder, stepping in for injured sophomore and leading scorer Kaleigh Craig, scored two goals in just her second start of the season.

Junior Bridget Bianco had another brilliant performance in goal, making eight saves, including some very athletic stops, despite facing a barrage of 31 Gators shots.

But the most impressive performance of the day belonged to junior Kara Mupo. Coming off the bench, she slashed the Florida defense for four goals. When the Cats were down a goal with 14 seconds to play, it was Mupo who was given the team’s last shot.

But even though her goal was waved off due to a crease violation, she was composed after the game and had her eye on the future.

“It’s rough,” she said. “It’s been a long road for us. This year, we want to go out with a bang. … That’s our plan moving forward.”

Despite trailing the whole game, the seniors played with that same sentiment. Senior attack Alyssa Leonard had two goals and added a whopping 12 draw controls to her NCAA-leading lifetime total.

Fellow attack Kat DeRonda added one goal to her soaring season total, and defender Kerri Harrington had a lockdown performance despite an otherwise rough day for the defense.

Their presence will be missed next year, but a juggernaut program brimming with talent doesn’t rebuild; it reloads. Many of NU’s younger players are ready to star in the looming postseason and beyond.

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Twitter: @BobbyPillote