No. 3 Northwestern wrapped up its unbeaten conference campaign with a 20-12 win over Ohio State on Saturday, securing the outright Big Ten regular season title.
The Wildcats (14-2, 8-0 Big Ten) clinched a perfect Big Ten slate for the third time in program history, easily dealing with the Buckeyes (8-7, 1-7 Big Ten) in Columbus.
Junior attacker Madison Taylor scored six goals and tallied three assists as she finished the regular season as the NCAA’s best scorer. Taylor’s 83 goals and 117 points led the country, as did her goals-per-game average of 5.19.
Graduate student attacker Riley Campbell and graduate student Niki Miles both punched in four goals, with Miles also putting up two assists.
NU had just one day of rest — having played against Michigan on Thursday — whereas Ohio State hadn’t played in six days. The well-rested Buckeyes struck first, but the ’Cats soon answered with a Campbell goal. Eighteen seconds later, senior defender Sammy White followed up with another goal to take the lead.
Though the Buckeyes fought back in the first frame to tie the game, NU ripped off a 4-0 run to close out the final three-and-a-half minutes, entering the second quarter ahead 6-3. Six different players — Campbell, White, Taylor, Miles, sophomore attacker Taylor Lapointe and senior midfielder Emerson Bohlig — contributed a ’Cats goal in the first quarter.
NU’s success came in large part due to its dominance within the draw circle. Senior midfielder Sam Smith logged nine draw controls, while White possessed a career-high eight draw controls. The ’Cats outdrew the Buckeyes 22-13.
Ohio State hung around throughout the second quarter, matching the NU output with four goals. Miles notched her third hat trick of the season midway through the second quarter. The graduate student, who transferred to Evanston from Penn ahead of the season, scored in 15 of 16 games and had 10 multi-goal games during the regular season.
With eight seconds remaining in the first half, Buckeyes defender Lilli Sherman stormed into the fan and cut the Ohio State deficit to 10-7 as the teams went to the locker room.
The ’Cats firmly controlled the second half.
Taylor scored three goals in the third quarter as NU outscored the Buckeyes 6-3 in the period. With seven seconds left in the quarter, redshirt sophomore attacker Abby LoCascio scored a jumping wraparound shot to extend the lead to 16-10.
The Buckeyes got no closer than a five-goal deficit as Taylor, Campbell, Miles and redshirt sophomore attacker Rachel Weiner each poured in goals, comfortably seeing out the end of an unblemished conference season and securing the victory.
NU holds the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament and received a bye past the quarterfinal round. Their first contest in postseason action will be in the tournament’s semifinals against either No. 8. Johns Hopkins or No. 25 Penn State on Friday, April 25. The tournament will be played at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Maryland.
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