Women’s Soccer

After a season-long sojourn away from its regular home, Northwestern wasted little time establishing a home-field advantage at the renovated Martin Stadium this weekend.

For the first time in program history, the No. 24 Wildcats (5-0-0) did not concede a single shot to their opponent in a 2-0 victory over Indiana State (2-3-0) on Thursday. NU followed that up with a wire-to-wire win over Colorado State (2-4-0) on Sunday, 3-0.

The Cats put in a dominant performance against the Sycamores, notching 25 shots on the night, with 12 on goal. But it took until 74 minutes into the game for NU to take a 1-0 lead over Indiana State, when freshman forward Maddy Lucas spun off a defender at the top of the box and curled a shot off the post that ricocheted off Indiana State goalkeeper Brittany San Roman and into the net. Junior winger Kassidy Gorman scored late with an 86th-minute near-post blast to set the final margin.

The Cats got on the board significantly earlier in Sunday’s game, with sophomore forward Brenna Lovera continuing her blazing start to the year by putting away a 17th-minute goal, NU’s first in the first half of a game this season. From there, late goals from senior defender Kourtney Scott and junior attacker Mackenzie Howe put the Rams away.

In a common theme so far this year, the Cats’ defensive dominance was on display over the weekend, as the two shutouts give NU four in five games this season. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Clem now has the program record for career shutouts — she has 26.

The Cats return to action at home Thursday against Illinois State.

Email: [email protected]