During the Wildcats’ first 10 games, in which they played a total of 600 minutes, they trailed for just one minute and 42 seconds, never facing a deficit larger than one goal. They were either tied or ahead for 99.7 percent of the time.
But against No. 4 Duke this past Friday, No. 1 Northwestern found itself in a 3-0 hole with 14 minutes left in the first half. The 16-minute drought was by far the longest the Cats had gone all season without finding the back of the net.
Even though the players were facing an unfamiliar situation – particularly at Lakeside Field, where they had won 47 straight games – no one panicked.
“It’s definitely different to go down 3-0, but we were all confident that once we started playing our game, things were going to turn around,” said senior midfielder Hannah Nielsen, who uncharacteristically had more turnovers than shots early on.
Sure enough, NU’s offense got into a rhythm and led the team to a slim lead at intermission. The floodgates opened in the second half, as the Cats outlasted the Blue Devils 13-7. The momentum also carried over to Saturday in a 21-4 pasting of California, though an injury to senior attacker Hilary Bowen overshadowed the victory.
One factor in Duke’s fast start was its ability to rebuff NU’s first scoring chance. The Cats (12-0, 1-0 ALC) have scored 18 times in the first three minutes of the game this season, and the only other time they did not get on the board early was in a 12-7 win at North Carolina. Not coincidentally, that game featured NU’s slimmest margin of victory this year.
Senior goalie Kim Imbesi stopped junior attacker Danielle Spencer’s shot 53 seconds into the contest, the first of her 10 saves, and Duke (9-3) kept the ball for the next two and a half minutes. As a result of the Blue Devils’ deliberate attack, the Cats’ offense became impatient and hurried their opportunities.
“They were playing a bit of a possession game, holding the ball for a long time,” Nielsen said. “That meant when we got the ball, we were a little bit overanxious, taking some shots that were maybe not the perfect opportunity to score. Once we started slowing things down and controlling the ball, we got the easy shots, and we were able to put the game away.”
Junior midfielder Katrina Dowd scored at the 13:51 mark to break the Cats out of their offensive mini-slump. The goal settled the team down from the emotional high of playing a rival like Duke.
“We were almost too excited, too aggressive,” Spencer said. “Once Katrina had her goal, we were all able to take a deep breath, say, ‘Ok, we can do this, we don’t need to force our shots, they’ll come.'”
NU stayed on the offensive to take a 4-3 lead. The game-tying goal was particularly significant: Nielsen found senior midfielder Meredith Frank for the 179th assist of her career, breaking the all-time NCAA mark.
After weeks of anticipation, the record-setting assist was as much of a relief for Nielsen as anything else.
“It happened, and it was nice to reach that achievement, but it’s now nice just to play (and not worry about it),” she said.
The Blue Devils did not cave in once the Cats went ahead. The two teams traded goals until early in the second half, when Duke knotted the score at six with 25 minutes to go.
But NU’s offense exploded for six straight goals to finally put Duke away.
“It’s a long game, and sometimes it takes a little bit to wear teams down,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “I think that’s what we did – we wore them down and really came on in the second half.”
Draw controls played a large role in getting the Cats back on track.
When the Blue Devils were ahead early, they dictated the tempo by winning draws. But NU controlled 10 of the last 12, preventing Duke from getting back in the game.
The defense’s play down the stretch was also crucial. Senior goalie Morgan Lathrop made nine saves, seven of which came after halftime.
The Blue Devils committed 17 turnovers, leading to a season-low seven goals. It was the first time Duke failed to reach double digits.
“We had a great defensive effort,” Nielsen said. “Duke’s a very powerful attack, and to hold them to just seven (goals) was very impressive.”
California Game Notes
Although Bowen went down with an apparent knee injury two minutes into the game and did not return, she still kept her points streak alive. She had the assist on Nielsen’s goal a little more than one minute into the game, the 56th game in a row Bowen has registered at least one point.
The Golden Bears did not have possession on their offensive side of the field until five minutes into the game. The Cats performed a similar feat against Rutgers earlier in the year.
Spencer, Nielsen, Dowd and freshman attacker Shannon Smith all had hat tricks for NU in the win. The Cats have recorded 37 hat tricks this season, an average of three per game. The team scored 20 or more goals for the eighth time this season.
