When Northwestern won four of its first seven games, there was optimism around the program. But we knew the true test of the Wildcats character would come in the Big Ten.
If you judge the first eight conference games, the first seven of the year would seem like a fraud. How can a team that went 4-2-1 in those first seven contests then went winless for nine consecutive games to foes they should know like the back of their hand? Well, if the last three games the Cats played speak to anything, its confidence is the key for this team.
The team battled to an overtime win in its first game of the season, and for a team that won just two games the year before, any win is a big win. That confidence was winning that first game, a game they probably would have lost last season, extended into a second consecutive win. After enduring a two-game skid, the Cats scored two early goals, and despite only getting a draw, had some confidence which it used to grab back-to-back 2-0 wins.
And then Big Ten play started for NU. The Cats were close, but they never could get over the hump and pick up a win. The first turning point in conference play was a road trip to Indiana at the end of September. NU lost to both Indiana and Purdue by a score of 1-0 despite dominating the run of play in both games. These are the type of games that deflate a team, and it did just that to the Cats, who went on to drop their next three games and were mired in a six-game stretch in which they scored just once.
When it looked like the Cats were going to retreat and give up, NU took a trip south to play intrastate rival Illinois. After seven consecutive losses, it would make sense for the Cats to throw in the towel, knowing they were out of the hunt for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. The Fighting Illini scored just 17 minutes into the game and with 10 minutes left it looked like Illinois would defend its turf. Georgia Waddle scored with 9 minutes left to make it an interesting game, and then Kate Allen stepped up to the penalty spot. The junior placed her shot into the goal with 4 seconds left to give the Cats a win.
NU took that confidence with them and won its last two games of the season to end the year with a three-game winning streak. It’s a fact that winning breeds confidence and losing begets doubt. The key for any team is to find a way to erase the doubt and stay confident. It was clear NU struggled with confidence in the middle of the season despite what everyone was saying to the media. It can be extremely demoralizing for any team to play so well and lose, and that trip to Indiana was a low point in the season for NU. It took them three and a half games to get over that disappointment before they finally regained some confidence.
Maybe NU did not pass the conference test, but unlike last year, the Cats will bring confidence into next season and will make some noise in the Big Ten.
