It had all the makings of a lopsided contest.
No. 2 Michigan (14-1, 5-0 Big Ten) hosted unranked Northwestern (4-11, 0-4) on Sunday, two days after the Wildcats had been downed by No. 20 Central Michigan, 3-0. Earlier in the season, Michigan pounded Central Michigan, 5-0.
But if the Wolverines were expecting a yawner, they quickly found that they were mistaken.
The defending national champions barely edged the Wildcats, 1-0, at Ocker Field in Ann Arbor, Mich. Their 13th-straight win assures them a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
The Wolverines played urgent defense in the second half, attempting to thwart the Cats’ heavy offensive pressure.
But Michigan forward April Fronzoni scored five minutes into the second half on a backhander to give the Wolverines the lead.
“They probably came in not expecting much from us,” NU sophomore midfielder Candice Cooper said. “But once the game started, they were like, ‘Whoa, we have to start working hard.'”
NU kept the ball on Michigan’s half of the field for the majority of the match, nearly tying the score with seven minutes remaining on a well-struck penalty corner.
On one of NU’s many scoring chances in the second half, Cooper received the corner entry from senior back Lindsey Millard and took the direct shot.
But Michigan goalkeeper Molly Maloney made a save to preserve the lead.
“The ball rocketed off my stick and was headed for the bottom left corner,” Cooper said. “It deflected off (Maloney’s) pad, and I thought it was heading into the top left corner. But it skimmed just over the crossbar.”
The last time the Cats faced a top-10 opponent, they surrendered 18 penalty corners to Penn State, and the ball rarely left their end of the field.
But this match was different.
“It was a great field hockey match,” NU head coach Marisa Didio said. “The level of competition made both teams better because of the challenges we presented to one another.”
Didio did a solid job of regrouping her squad, which had a disappointing showing against Central Michigan (11-4).
In that match, the Cats were outshot 7-2 and allowed 12 penalty corners to the Chippewas.
But against one of the best teams in the nation, NU played inspired field hockey, in large part because of team captain Suzi Sutton.
“She has been our MVP throughout the past two weekends,” Didio said. “And a large part of our success against Michigan was because of her.”
NU has some viable concerns as it comes home for the next two-and-half weeks after four consecutive road games.
The Cats have not scored a goal in four straight games and have been outshot in their last seven matches.
“It’s really frustrating, partly because we have a defensive system,” Cooper said. “But we have been working on getting (more players) to help our offense because we only have two forwards.”
The loss to Michigan marks the Cats’ third 1-0 defeat this year against a top-10 team.
The two others were decided in overtime — against Penn State on Oct. 5 and Boston College on Sept. 15.
“I feel we play much better against teams who have speed and quickness — teams that immediately go for our throats,” Cooper said. “With teams like Ohio and Central Michigan, it feels like we have to stoop to their level, which sort of hurts us.”
