Just five days ago, No. 5 Northwestern entered its match against No. 15 Michigan State on a 13-game unbeaten streak and tied for the top seed in the Big Ten.

However, following back-to-back losses against the Spartans on Sunday and Iowa on Thursday, the Cats have entered unprecedented territory. Until now, they had not lost two consecutive games this season.

Against the Hawkeyes (4-6-6, 1-3-4 Big Ten), No. 13 NU (12-3-2, 6-2-1 Big Ten) failed to rebound from an early 2-0 deficit, only managing to score once in the second half.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Jake Epstein/The Daily Northwestern

Graduate midfielder Francesca Docters tries to settle the ball out of the air.

Iowa’s offense came out strong in the first half, taking eight shots to the Cats’ two and catching the team on their heels.

The first goal came off an unforced error as senior defender Danika Austin tried to clear the ball by heading it, but the ball flew backwards over the reach of graduate goalkeeper Mia Raben.

Iowa’s second goal came only four minutes later as sophomore Addie Bundy hit a long-ranger from well outside of the box into the upper left corner of the net.

At halftime, NU found itself down 2-0 for the second straight game, forcing the team to once again make adjustments.

“At halftime we switched into a 4-2-3-1 (formation),” coach Michael Moynihan said. “We were struggling building out of the back and our distribution was causing us some problems. So we felt that if we went to four, it would give us more natural width and give them a little bit more time and a better shape to work out.”

The change paid dividends almost immediately after resumption of play, as junior forward Ella Hase found the back of the net off an assist from junior defender Nicole Doucette.

The second half saw renewed energy from the Cats: NU accumulated 11 shots in the final 45 minutes while holding Iowa to only five.

In the 77th minute, the Cats nearly tied the game off a close-range header from Hase, but an impressive dive from Iowa’s keeper prevented the goal.

Despite NU’s offensive outburst in the second half, the game remained 2-1 as the final whistle was blown. 

Contributing to the loss was the absence of emerging freshman midfielder Caterina Regazzoni, who was held out of the game due to injury.

“(Regazzoni) has been a big piece of our team in the midfield, and her not playing affects the rhythm of things a little bit,” Moynihan said. “It took us a little while, we had to adjust our shape, and we found something that worked really well.”

Moynihan added that freshman defender Brooke Miller stepped up and did a “phenomenal job” in Regazzoni’s absence.

With both Rutgers and Ohio State losing Thursday, the Cats hold sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings. NU, however, is out of contention for the Big Ten title which went to Michigan State after their win Thursday.

The Cats will play No. 17 Ohio State on Sunday for their last game of the regular season. Since the Buckeyes sit only two points behind NU in the conference standings, the match holds extra weight.

“We could clinch second place,” Moynihan said. “We also want to build momentum going into postseason play, so it’s a big game for us. Ohio State’s been scoring a ton of goals lately, so it’ll be a good challenge.”

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