Northwestern hung tough with one of the hottest teams in the country Thursday but could not hold up in the second half, falling 3-0 to No. 25 Illinois.
The Fighting Illini (12-4-1, 6-2-1 Big Ten) entered the match on a five-game winning streak, including four consecutive shutouts. They would extend both streaks against the Wildcats.
Even though the match was aggressive early, neither team mounted any real threats until NU freshman forward Sami Schrakamp broke away from defenders nearly 20 minutes into the match and fired a shot that was smothered by Illinois’ goalkeeper Steph Panozzo.
With goalkeeper Anna Cassell out due to a concussion, the Wildcats had to rely on backup Sam Hatfield, who posted a career-high six saves.
“Hattie played really well,” freshman defender Jackie Alyinovich said. “(Cassell’s absence) is just something that we had to play with and she stepped up.”
Neither Hatfield nor the Cats’ suddenly surging defense, however, could keep the Fighting Illini from finding the back of the net. With 19 minutes left to play in the first half, senior midfielder Marissa Mykines blasted a line drive right over Hatfield to take a 1-0 lead.
NU (2-13-1, 1-7-1 Big Ten) buckled down after the goal, allowing only one more shot in the half.
Despite the halftime deficit, the Cats had kept pace with the potent Fighting Illini offense, using six first-half substitutions to keep its energy high.
Both teams came out of the break with intensity. As in the first half, NU’s defense held off an aggressive Illinois attack early but broke down later in the stanza. The Fighting Illini added to their lead in the 65th minute when senior Julie Ewing fired the ball across the goal and Vanessa DiBernardo poked it in for her 14th goal of the season.
Junior Shayla Mutz put the game out of reach seven minutes later, knocking a Niki Read pass into the bottom corner of the net for a three-goal lead.
The Cats had their chances throughout the game, finishing with six shots, but were unable to convert against a stiff Fighting Illini defense.
“They did a good job closing down quickly,” Schrakamp said.”We had some great chances. We just need to finish on them.”
Although NU’s defense played tough for much of the game, a few mental breakdowns proved to be the difference against an opportunistic Illinois offense.
“We just didn’t communicate as well as we did in the past,” Alyinovich said. “It’s something that we need to keep working on and hopefully we’ll improve it and look forward to the postseason.”
Before they can look forward to the postseason; however, NU still has a Sunday matchup with Iowa (11-4-2, 3-4-2) before heading home for its regular-season finale against Michigan State.
The Hawkeyes started the season by winning 10 of their first 11 games but have gone 2-4-1 since then. They have allowed 15 goals on the season, tied for second in the Big Ten, but have been outscored 7-2 over their last four games.
“Iowa is another good attacking team,” coach Stephanie Foster said. “They’re athletic. They’ve got a goal scorer (in freshman Cloe Lacasse).”
The players said they hope to put Thursday’s loss behind them and focus on regaining some momentum in what will be their final road game of the season.
“We’re looking forward to (Iowa),” Alyinovich said. “It’s another chance to prove ourselves and get better and get a win.”
