It was the type of game every team strives to have. It came out strong, scored immediately and retained an insurmountable lead.
Unfortunately for the Northwestern lacrosse team (2-7, 0-2 American Lacrosse Conference), that team was Brown (4-4), which defeated the Wildcats 13-6 Monday in Providence, R.I.
It took only 25 seconds for the Bears to strike. Katie Zabel netted a goal. Then Brown simply took off.
“(The goal) definitely hurt our mental edge,” NU attack Sarah Albrecht said, “and it left us not as pumped as we could have been.”
Six Brown goals later, the whistle blew for halftime, and the Cats came off the field down 7-2.
“We didn’t come out really strong,” NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said, “and that was a bit disappointing.”
There were glimmers of impressive first-half play for the Cats, but they came from individuals as the team’s play was weaker than Hiller anticipated.
“For us, it is a matter of everyone coming together,” she said. “When that happens, we play well.
“We couldn’t get everyone to step up at one given time in the first half.”
Albrecht had a standout day for NU, scoring her first of three goals early in the match. Sarah Crosby notched her first collegiate goal to bring the score to 5-2, but Brown retaliated with scores from Rebekah Rottenberg and Meredith Goodell.
“What we really need is to come out like we did at New Hampshire,” Albrecht said. “We need to be there from the second the whistle blows.”
Determined to fight back, the Cats came out in the second half with a fire reminiscent of Saturday’s game at New Hampshire, which NU led 6-1 shortly after halftime.
“It’s always tough when the other team scores right away,” said defenseman Kate Darmody of the Brown game. “But it makes us realize we have to get down to business.”
Albrecht came out aggressively, scoring the Cats’ third goal early in the half. But the Bears answered with two more.
And they weren’t done yet.
“We came back (in the second half), but it was too little, too late,” Hiller said. “If we had shut down on (Brown’s) offensive opportunities, we would have been able to (come back).”
Despite additional goals by Albrecht, Angela McMahon and Courtney Flynn, the Cats were unable to catch up as Brown netted four more goals, including two from Rottenberg that brought her game total to five.
“We need to work on staying positive,” Darmody said. “We have spurts of excellence, but we need to work hard all the time.”
The Cats will be back in action this weekend with two home matches against Ohio University (6-3, 0-2 American Lacrosse Conference) at 4 p.m. Friday and Duquesne (3-6) at 10 a.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field.
“It’s a matter of coming out and playing hard and physically every time,” Hiller said. “The wins will come. We are ready for them.”
