Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

33° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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2nd-half rally falls short in Big Ten tournament (Field Hockey)

Despite a second-half comeback, the Northwestern field hockey team’s failure to convert opportunities spelled defeat in its first round game of the Big Ten tournament — a 3-2 loss to Ohio State.

NU’s offense was getting the looks all day as they outshot the Buckeyes 17-10, but the Cats came up short in the only score that matters.

Not capitalizing was a problem for the team for much of the early part of the season, but they seemed primed to break out of that trend after their nine goal explosion in two games over Saint Louis and Syracuse.

Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way though, which seemed to be the theme of Friday’s loss to the Buckeyes.

Less then five minutes into the first half, junior Candice Cooper slipped a shot past Ohio State goalkeeper Lindsay Williams. But Cooper’s shot clanged off the post — a dirty twist of fate from the field hockey gods.

“We felt like we played a really strong game,” senior Suzi Sutton said. “It’s no excuse for losing, but we just didn’t get a lot of breaks.”

The Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead at 28:25 when Vanessa Immordino took a crossing pass from Lucy Clayton and beat NU’s goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg. It was Immordino’s conference-leading 22nd goal of the season.

Ohio State carried the narrow one-goal advantage into halftime, and came out with a flurry of scoring in the second half. A mere 38 seconds into the second half, the Buckeyes’ Curlyne Wynn gave Ohio State a 2-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Cammie Trainer took a pass from Immordino and turned the game into what was looking to be a blowout at 3-0.

“Their offense was putting some serious pressure on us,” Sutton said. “It seemed like they were always in our faces, and each time they were, they would capitalize.”

But with the season and the careers of head coach Marisa Didio and the four seniors on the line, the Cats tried to claw back. Cooper made sure her shot found the net at 46:54 to make the score 3-1.

Senior Diane Provencher scored her third goal of the season off a pass from sophomore Holly Palin and cut the lead to 3-2. But in the closing minutes, despite three penalty corner opportunities, the Cats simply couldn’t find the back of the net, and Ohio State held on for their second victory over NU this season.

The loss bumped the Cats down to a 9-9 record overall, but it was still the first time the team finished at .500 or better since 1995 when NU finished 13-6.

The silver lining to the Cats’ loss was Provencher’s performance, which earned the senior a spot on the All-tournament team. Provencher and Cooper were also named Second Team All-Big Ten. Provencher posted the best offensive season of her career, tallying three goals and three assists.

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2nd-half rally falls short in Big Ten tournament (Field Hockey)