With ten minutes left to play in the first half, the Wildcats had the Spartans right where they wanted them.
Northwestern had been hanging tough, surviving three penalty corners in the first four minutes of the game and seven in all. The Cats limited the damage to one Spartans goal, scored by Floor Rijpma off a corner in the 13th minute.
But NU struck back seven minutes later on a pass across the circle that senior forward Annie Bosslet sent to the back of the cage for the tying goal.
Until that point, the game had been almost a carbon copy of the first one the teams played earlier this season: Michigan State converting on a corner in the first 15 minutes. NU responding in the middle of the half to knot the score. Cats goalie Emily Kyle performing at a high level and her team playing with the momentum.
But how quickly the tide can turn.
Michigan State exploded for three goals in three minutes to claim a 4-1 lead it would not surrender, eventually prevailing 4-2.
NU coach Kelly McCollum had no complaints about how her team played during that stretch and thought the goals were due to great execution by the Spartans rather than defensive mishaps by the Cats.
“I think it was more their stick-handling skills battling our defensive disciplines and coming up a little bit with an edge on earning corners and earning opportunities in the circle,” McCollum said. “I have no disappointments with how our team played, and my hat’s off to Michigan State.”
NU refused to throw in the towel. The Cats came out aggressively in the second half, picking up five penalty corners in a four-minute span. After trailing 10-1 in corners after the first period, NU held a 7-2 advantage during the final 35 minutes.
McCollum believed the Cats’ strong play after the break was a product of making adjustments that caught the Spartans by surprise.
“We played a little bit more of a high-risk, high-pressure defense and attack and that earned us some early opportunities,” she said. “We switched up what we were doing so that what they were anticipating at the start of the second half isn’t what they were up against, so I think we caught them off-guard at the beginning.”
But despite recording a shot on goal on six of their eight penalty corners for the game, the Cats were unable to score on any of them.
McCollum said her team ran the plays properly, but Michigan State goalie Elissa Unger stopped some difficult shots and ultimately the Cats were unable to get the ball past her.
“We had a couple of real dangerous corners and their goalkeeper came up with a couple big saves, as well as their defensive unit cleared the ball off the pads fairly quickly,” McCollum said. “But we definitely got shots off, and it just wasn’t enough to get it past their defense.”
NU tacked on one last goal on a penalty stroke by senior forward Alexandra Quinn with three minutes left in regulation.
It was a bittersweet ending for Quinn. While it was great to cap off such an accomplished career with a score, she was also dealing with the emotions of possibly playing in her final game.
“Throughout the whole game it was in the back of my mind,” she said. “It’s a scary thought, and it’s obviously a sad thing. But I can’t say that I left feeling sad because I could look each one of my teammates in the eye and know that they laid everything out there for us.”
Though this season ended like so many others before it, with a loss in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, the Cats have plenty of reasons to be satisfied with the progress they have made.
Their corner units were clicking in the last few games, and the team won its first conference game in more than two years. NU played a punishing schedule yet managed to be competitive with ranked teams, peaking at the end of the year with the close overtime loss to Louisville.
McCollum said her players came together this season, and she was pleased with how they dealt with hardship. This sign bodes well for the future.
“Our ability to rise to adversity and challenges has been the biggest positive that I can take out of this season,” McCollum said.” I know next season there’ll be more wins, there’ll be more goals, there’ll be stronger execution of corners earlier on because we’re returning most of that unit.”
