After jumping out to a 5-0 start, the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team leaped into the national polls at No. 19. Hopes were high for the young Wildcats, whose first real test of the season came last week against three American Lacrosse Conference teams in six days.

But NU (5-3) did not pass the test. The Cats lost to Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins by a combined score of 43-19.

Since the Big Ten doesn’t sponsor women’s lacrosse, the Cats play in the ALC, which boasted five teams in the top-20, including all three of NU’s opponents last week.

The Cats lost to the No. 17 Buckeyes 14-4, the No. 20 Comodores 15-8 and the No. 18 Blue Jays 14-7.

“They were all really strong teams,” sophomore Erin Flynn said. “We’re a new program. They were better with the basics that you learn from experience.”

NU’s normally potent offense was shut down. The Cats’ leading scorer, sophomore Courtney Flynn, was limited to four goals — three coming against Vanderbilt. Junior Courtney Koester, who was named ALC player of the week for netting eight points in two games the week before, was scoreless in the first two matches against Ohio State and Vanderbilt.

The Cats hurt themselves with 17 turnovers at home against Ohio State. They never led in the game and trailed 6-1 early. A three-goal run by the Buckeyes in the last few minutes of the first half put NU down 9-2.

Looking back, the team questioned its effort.

“That game was the first time this season that the girls and the staff have been disappointed,” NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “I don’t think we brought the level of effort needed to compete with a team like Ohio State.”

The Flynn twin sisters anchored the Cats’ offense against No. 20 Vanderbilt, combining for five goals.

NU was down 7-3 with under 20 seconds left in the first half when freshman Jenny Bush scored an unassisted goal.

Her goal was followed by a missile from Courtney Flynn that hit the back of the net just 0.9 seconds before halftime. A goal from junior Angela McMahon closed the deficit to 7-6, but that was as close as NU would come. The Commodores outscored the Cats 6-1 to end the game.

“Vandy had a tough start to their season,” Amonte Hiller said. “But they’re pretty tall, and really skilled.”

Although progress could be seen in the Cats’ play, they ended the week with a loss in Nashville, Tenn., to Johns Hopkins. Down 5-2 at halftime, NU came back from the break and scored three goals to tie the game. But everything fell apart as the Blue Jays went on a 7-2 run to finish the game.

“Sometimes we don’t play to our potential,” Erin Flynn said. “The major thing we gotta work on is bringing our best game to every game.”

The Cats are exactly midway through the season. At 5-3, an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament is still within reach. NU will have to step up its level of play against the ranked teams remaining on the schedule that include No. 9 Penn State, No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 8 Syracuse.

But this week, the Cats are focusing on Sunday’s game against the current No. 19 team, Connecticut.

“We have the players to win and do well,” Amonte Hiller said. “They know that they can compete on a high level, it’s just a matter of us doing it.”