Junior attacker Madison Taylor scored a career-high eight goals as No. 3 Northwestern dismantled Marquette in a 19-9 Friday night victory.
The Wildcats (6-1, 0-0 Big Ten) followed up a 6-4 first-quarter lead with a 13-5 run, starting the running clock with 2:48 remaining as they comfortably took down the Golden Eagles (4-2, 0-0 Big East) in Milwaukee.
Marquette opened the scoring just 40 seconds into the contest before Taylor answered with a free position goal, her first of three, less than a minute later.
Though the ’Cats and Golden Eagles traded blows early on in the first period, NU began ramping up its offensive intensity. The nation’s fifth-ranked scoring offense entering Friday’s matchup put up 13 first-period shots on goal to Marquette’s five.
However, Marquette goalkeeper Brynna Nixon stood firm between the pipes, making seven first-quarter saves and allowing just six goals. NU scored three goals in the final four and a half minutes of the first frame.
Taylor secured a hat trick with two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, extending her streak of games with three or more goals to 18 straight. The Wantagh, N.Y., native has had an exceptional start to the season. Entering Friday’s contest, Taylor’s mark of 5.17 goals per game led the nation and her tally of 31 goals on the season ranked second in the country.
She had six goals by halftime.
After Friday’s eight-goal showing, she now leads the nation in goals scored with 39, three goals clear of Boston College attacker Rachel Clark and Cincinnati attacker Lauren Ottensmeyer, who have both notched 36 in the season.
NU broke the game open in the second quarter, launching a 7-1 run backed by seven draw controls to take a 13-5 lead into halftime. Senior midfielder Sam Smith snared a season-high 14 draw controls as the ’Cats won the draw by a 22-9 margin.
Graduate student attackers Niki Miles and Riley Campbell both scored two goals, with Campbell adding two assists. Junior attacker Lucy Munro also punched in a pair of scores.
Defensively, the ’Cats secured 23 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers. Taylor, who primarily plays in an attacking role, led the team with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior defender Sammy White contributed two ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Three goalkeepers — graduate student Delaney Sweitzer, senior Cara Nugent and redshirt sophomore Fran Argentieri — saw action in the cage for NU. Sweitzer, who started and played three quarters, made five saves and allowed six goals. Nugent and Argentieri split the final frame; Nugent made a save and allowed three goals while Argentieri made two saves and pitched a shutout.
NU will host Penn State on Sunday in Ryan Fieldhouse as it opens conference play. Last year, the ’Cats fell to the Nittany Lions in the regular season before getting revenge in the Big Ten Tournament championship. First draw is set for 1 p.m.
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