Within eight hours, No. 6 Northwestern went from upset hopeful to just another victim, losing to the top three teams in the nation.

The previously undefeated NU fell Saturday to No. 1 Ohio State 21-6, No. 2 Notre Dame 20-7 and No. 3 Penn State 19-8 en route to a 6-3 record at the weekend’s Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind.

“We fought hard, but we simply didn’t win the crucial bouts,” coach Laurie Schiller said.

But the result didn’t discourage Schiller and the Wildcats.

“You shoot for the top,” Schiller said. “It’s a little disappointing if you don’t do it, but you can’t really say: ‘Oh, gee. We didn’t upset the No. 1-ranked team.’

“Sometimes if you’re going to pull an upset, everything’s got to come together, and it just didn’t (Saturday).”

But it almost did. Despite the lopsided team scores, the Cats played their opponents close in almost every bout, losing many by just one touch.

Schiller blamed mental errors, but junior epeeist Sharon Sullivan said something more was missing, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Everyone was really frustrated trying to find it,” said Sullivan, who went 7-8 for the weekend but 3-6 against the top three.

The Cats have plenty of time to prepare for the late-February conference championships, where possible grudge matches against Ohio State and Notre Dame could materialize –by weapon, rather than by team.

Although their Saturday performance against these teams didn’t show they could beat the powerhouses, the Cats walked away from Notre Dame knowing what they need to do.

“We did an amazing job working as a team,” said Jessica Florendo, a sophomore foilist who went 15-6 for the weekend but 3-6 against the top three. “Yet in order to defeat Notre Dame and Ohio State, we have to kick it up a notch — a vision I see entirely possible.”

Many encouraging signs came out of Saturday’s action. Senior foilist Julia F