The Northwestern lacrosse team (7-7) will finish out its season with two road games, starting today at Colgate (10-7) and ending at No. 11 Syracuse (9-5) on Saturday.
The Wildcats already have eclipsed their 5-10 record from last season, but they will be looking to finish the season above .500. Escaping the Empire State with two wins will accomplish that goal.
The Syracuse women’s program may live in the shadow of the national champion men’s team, but it is still a very tough squad groomed in the Big East — a well-respected lacrosse powerhouse.
Leading the Patriot League with a 5-1 conference record, Colgate is the lesser of the two opponents. Colgate boasts victories over weaker teams like Albany (3-13) and St. Mary’s (8-9).
The Cats have had a far tougher schedule this season. NU has played seven ranked teams while Colgate has played only two.
Their only common opponent was Stanford. NU led the Cardinal 4-3 at half, but eventually lost 9-5. Colgate never had a chance — it found itself down 7-1 at halftime and lost 13-2.
After giving up nine goals in the second half in a loss to No. 18 Notre Dame on Saturday, the Cats have spent the past few days trying to prepare mentally, as well as physically.
“We’ve changed up a few things in our transition game,” sophomore goalie Ashley Gersuk said. “We all realize that we have what it takes to play at the top level. We just need to figure out how to stay in it for a full game.”
Against the Fighting Irish, the Cats were led defensively by Gersuk and sophomore Abby Alley. Until the second-half breakdown, NU’s defense was tight and consistent. Gersuk had 10 saves, while Alley held Notre Dame’s top scorer, Danielle Shearer, scoreless. Alley was able to deny Shearer the ball by staying on top of the senior on fast breaks.
“I think I really flustered their attack,” Alley said after the game. “(Shearer) got frustrated. She was kinda annoyed she didn’t get the ball.”
Freshman Lindsay Munday became NU’s top scorer with her 18th goal of the season, passing Courtney Koester and Courtney Flynn. Koester and Flynn had led the team in scoring the entire season, but as teams began to focus on them, NU found more weapons in a very potent freshman class.
NU is 6-1 against unranked opponents. But if the Cats hope to continue their success against teams outside of the top 20, they will need stay focused for the entire game, sophomore defender Kate Darmody said.
“It’s time for all the pieces to come together and make it a win,” she said.
