After another scoreless draw Friday against Michigan (2-8-4, 0-4-3 Big Ten), Northwestern (7-5-4, 2-3-2 Big Ten) went into Sunday’s match against Michigan State (6-9-1, 1-7 Big Ten) looking to break a scoring drought that had lasted more than 250 minutes.

Ten minutes into the game, they did just that when senior midfielder Kelly Sitkowski crossed the ball into the feet of sophomore midfielder Alicia Herczeg for a simple tap-in and 1-0 lead.

The Cats didn’t look back after that and scored three more goals en route to a 4-0 shutout win.

“It feels great that our offense came together so well and our defense has been doing so great,” Herczeg said. “(Against Michigan State) we played together more than we have done this season.”

Each of NU’s three starting forwards, senior Kelsey Hans, junior Jenny Dunn and freshman Sam Greene, earned a goal against Michigan State.

“Forwards had to want the ball and they did today, ” coach Stephanie Erickson said. “We persevered a little more today, and (we) have been creating chances but it all came together in today’s performance.”

The Cats defense shone again this weekend with shutouts in both games.

NU has now recorded four shutouts in the past five games.

“We have a young back-line as far as experience in playing together goes,” Erickson said. “We’re continuing to get better and our backs know when teams are trying to get the ball behind them and playing it in front of them.”

At the core of the success of the back line has been senior goalkeeper Lauren Johnston, who has not conceded a goal in more than 276 minutes. This weekend, Johnston suffered blows to the face in both matches and was eventually substituted on Sunday.

In recognition of her outstanding performances, Johnston was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.

Erickson said Johnston has been an inspiration at the back for the team this season.

Although the NU defense has been in superb form over the past few matches, the offense has sputtered at times, including during Friday’s match against Michigan, when NU recorded 15 shots but was unable to score.

“It was great to get the shutout but it was disappointing for us not to score from the chances that came our way,” Hans said.

Michigan has not recorded a win in the Big Ten this season, and the Cats will look at the game as a lost opportunity to post a victory.

“I don’t think we played a great game (against Michigan),” Erickson said. “They gave us a really physical game, and we let them dictate the play too much. We didn’t get the ball into the wide areas where our strength lies.”

NU plays at home against Minnesota and Iowa next weekend, where the Cats will be hoping to extend their three-match unbeaten streak.

“Minnesota and Iowa are both dangerous teams,” Erickson said. “Minnesota has been scoring a lot of goals, while Iowa is tough to score against.”

Reach Pritish Behuria at [email protected].