No. 1 Maryland? Almost.
No. 2 Michigan? So close, yet so far.
No. 6 Penn State? Went into overtime, but still not good enough.
Getting frustrated yet?
When No. 5 Michigan State (16-2, 3-1 Big Ten) rolls into Evanston Saturday, the Northwestern field hockey team (4-11, 0-4) is hoping it can finally get the upset victory that has been just out of its reach.
“I am confident that there is another level within ourselves that we can reach,” NU head coach Marisa Didio said. “And we are close to it — we are going to get one of these games.”
It doesn’t help matters that this Saturday’s match is between last year’s Big Ten champions and this year’s last-place team.
But if there was ever a time for NU to have a huge upset, it has to be now.
The Wildcats are coming off a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 2 Michigan in Ann Arbor last weekend.
In that game, the Cats made the Wolverines sweat out a nail-biter of a second half in which NU came inches away from tying the game on several occasions.
The Spartans can relate to NU’s frustration.
Michigan State also dropped a 1-0 contest to the Wolverines, on Oct. 4 in Ann Arbor. It was the Spartans’ only loss in their last 17 matches.
But NU will have to put Michigan State’s success in the back of its mind and hope the energy and competition that it put on display in Ann Arbor will carry over to Lakeside Field.
“That game was so important for us in preparing for (Michigan State),” sophomore forward Candice Cooper said. “We are ready, and we can win. We all know we can.”
But NU’s opponents this year, the majority of which have been ranked in the top-25, may not agree with Cooper.
“We know differently, but I don’t think that they respect us,” Didio said. “These are teams that beat us badly last year, so why would they?”
The Spartans were rude hosts in last year’s meeting, as Michigan State pounded the Cats, 5-0, in East Lansing, Mich.
This year, NU hasn’t been getting slapped around by anyone.
In a spring exhibition against the Spartans, the teams tied 1-1.
“We can’t put these highly-skilled teams on a pedestal,” Didio said. “We’ve consistently been in a position to win these games all year, and this won’t be any different.”
The Cats can play the role of spoiler against the Spartans, who are battling Michigan, Iowa and Penn State for the Big Ten title.
“We’ve seen it before, and we’ll see it again,” Cooper said. “We can spoil things for these teams, and we’ll take a lot of pleasure in doing so.”
NU has been on the road the past four games and comes home looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against Michigan State.
The Cats have not scored a goal in more than four games — a span of more than 315 minutes — and have scored only twice in the past seven matches.
Didio knows the Cats won’t be getting into any shootouts anytime soon. But scoring a lot of goals isn’t what will help the Cats to an upset victory.
“We aren’t going to beat teams like Michigan State 5-0, 4-0 or 2-0,” she said. “It’s going to be a one-goal situation, and all we can do is play according to our principles.”
No. 5 Michigan State (16-2, 3-1 Big Ten) at NU (4-11, 0-4)
3 p.m., Saturday
Lakeside Field
