Up 3-2 Friday against Indiana, Northwestern (5-4-2, 0-2 Big Ten) looked set to repeat last year’s upset of the Hoosiers (8-1-1, 2-0).

The Wildcats had come from 2-0 down to take the lead in the 72nd minute, but then the Hoosiers made a comeback of their own.

Indiana scored two goals in the remaining time to take the match 4-3 and end any hopes of a winning start to the season for the Cats.

“I was really proud of the team,” Coach Stephanie Erickson said. “It shows a ton of character to go down early and come back. We have a team full of players who fought for 90 minutes through adversity.”

Unfortunately for the Cats, adversity was a problem they could not overcome on Sunday when No. 11 Purdue (10-1-1, 2-0 Big Ten) steamrolled them, 5-0.

Erickson said the match on Sunday was unfortunate and humbling but maintained the score was not all-telling. She added that the defeat was a consequence of going up against one of the best teams in the country which was on a winning streak.

The Cats’ defense, which had been a wall up to this weekend, saw cracks begin to appear in it. NU allowed only eight goals in 10 matches before the weekend, but the Cats conceded nine goals in this weekend’s two matches.

“There were a lot of shots on goal and we came up against two dynamic offenses,” said senior goalkeeper Lauren Johnston, who made nine saves over the weekend. “What we need to work on is not giving up space to our opponents to shoot from outside the box.”

The Cats performed considerably better in the second half of both games over the weekend.

Against Indiana, the Cats went into half-time trailing 2-0 before they forced their way back into the game courtesy of three goals from their star senior players: two from Kelsey Hans and one from Shannon Schneeman.

“I think that our performance (against Indiana) showed a lot of character,” Schneeman said. “In the second half, we played some of the best soccer we have played this season.”

Against Purdue, the Cats were already down 4-0 at half-time and let in only one more goal in the second half. They also attacked more in the second 45 minutes, with nine shots in the second half as opposed to only two in the first.

“In the second half, we could’ve come out with our heads hung low, but instead we came out fighting,” Johnston said.

NU saw a number of players return from injury this weekend – sophomore Zendzi Neal played in both games and was in action for the first time in 2007, while junior Jeanette Lorme returned to the field after missing the last seven games.

“It’s huge to have them back,” Erickson said. “Zendzi played in both games and Jeanette’s just so key for us in terms of keeping possession in the game.”

Tough home games against Ohio State and Penn State await the Cats next week.

“There’s a ton of hope for this team and a lot that is still fixable,” Erickson said. “We’re sticking with our values and vision. This weekend, we saw that as bad as it can get, we have a lot of character, and we’re still out there fighting.”

Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected].