Field hockey’s Cinderella will not be donning purple this year.
The Wildcats played a gritty game but ultimately fell to No. 8 Indiana 2-1 in overtime on Friday, eliminating them from the conference tournament and ending their season.
Northwestern kept Indiana off the board for more than 40 minutes and did not trail until junior Lydia Schrott scored the game-winner at 77:41.
Freshman goalie Emily Kyle led the Cats, saving a career-high 15 goals. Her efforts turned a potentially easy Hoosier victory into a struggle that went into extra minutes.
Second year head coach Kelly McCollum was impressed by the progress Kyle showed over the fall, culminating in the gutsy performance on Friday.
“I think Emily has definitely grown as a player,” said McCollum. “She worked hard during the season – (and) I think it’s a real bright spot looking into the future of the program.”
The loss left the Cats with a final record of 7-12 and a 12-game losing streak in Big Ten play, dating back to last season. NU was not helped by a difficult schedule that ranked amongst the toughest in the nation. The weekend before the Big Ten Tournament alone featured match-ups against powers No. 2 Duke and No. 1 Wake Forest and led to 9-0 and 7-0 losses, respectively, for the overwhelmed Cats.
Friday’s game had the potential to turn into yet another blowout. The Hoosiers unleashed an offensive barrage on NU, outshooting the underdogs 40-5. But despite the plethora of goals scored in the Duke and Wake Forest games, NU’s defense was a unit unphased against the Hoosiers, earning praise from McCollum.
“Bouncing back from the Carolina weekend (against Duke and Wake Forest) – says something about the fight that our team has and the opportunity they realized they had as a group,” said McCollum. “Talent is one thing, but team chemistry and team dynamic can take it to another level, and I think our team recognized that at the end of the season (against Indiana).”
Unfortunately for the Cats, the offense was unable to provide the shots necessary for victory. NU failed to score after sweeper Christina Foley’s goal at 8:08 in the first half and did not get off a single shot in the overtime period. Offensive output was a problem for the Cats throughout conference play, where they put up three goals only once all season, in a 4-3 loss at Iowa.
Past performance notwithstanding, McCollum remains optimistic about the future of the young team. The rebuilding squad, which has 11 freshman and sophomores versus only four graduating seniors, looks to build on the hard-fought battle against Indiana and approach 2006 with confidence.
“I have a large group of young players returning with tremendous playing experience that will carry us over to next season,” said McCollum. “The returning crew will be ready to just grow on the base that we left this season at the end and – move forward from the Big Ten Tournament performance that we had this weekend.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
