If passionate play were a statistic, the Northwestern field hockey team would be off the charts. The Wildcats’ emotional, scrapping style has been a handful for some of the nation’s best teams this year.
But at midseason, NU has yet to notch a conference victory. If a field hockey professor were handing out midseason report cards, the Cats would get an A+ for effort. But the teacher would probably write a note at the bottom saying the Cats have trouble finishing what they start.
“We’re outplaying and out-emotioning a lot of our opponents,” NU coach Marisa Didio said. “But it’s a matter of execution and striking when opportunities present themselves.”
Opportunities have been plentiful as the Cats rank fourth in the Big Ten with 36 shots and 23 penalty corners. But NU still remains scoreless in conference play.
Their conference competition is no peach, as Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Iowa are ranked in the nation’s top 10.
And NU has given each of those teams a run for their money.
“We keep banging and banging on the door,” Didio said. “We’re really on the verge of a breakout game.”
Coach Didio said she couldn’t be more pleased with her lineup. With only five upperclassmen, Didio charges those players with guiding the team.
“Each game, I challenge my core group of players to shoulder the load and carry the team,” Didio said. “Their leadership has been unbelievable 98 percent of the time.”
Didio has also been impressed with the depth that her young players bring to the table. Specifically, sophomore back Rachel Cody and freshman goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg have helped solidify the defense.
“It’s not easy for a freshman to be playing at her very best every single game,” Didio said. “Sherri-Anne has been great and will only get better with more experience.”
Even though they’re not getting the wins, the Cats have shown noticeable improvement from last year’s team, which finished 6-13. With five games left, the Cats need only one win to equal last season’s total.
“We’re so much better than last year from a full-team attack standpoint,” senior Suzi Sutton said. “It still comes down to finishing and capitalizing on the opportunities that we get.”
But teams are ultimately measured in wins and losses, and the Cats know that simply playing hard won’t get them to where they want to be by season’s end.
“We’ve been playing with all these great teams, but we’re tired of just playing with them,” Sutton said. “We need to take that next step and start taking some teams down.”
NU has two more shots at a Big Ten win in the regular season. Its best chance could come this weekend when the Cats hit the road for the third week in a row to face Indiana. NU’s only conference victory last year came against the Hoosiers.
It’s very simple. The Cats have all the tools to turn the boat around and head toward winning waters. But if they want to get one of those cool stickers on their end-of- season report card, they have to start finishing.
