The sprinklers built atop Northwestern’s Lakeside Field can be likened to industrial-grade water cannons. During field hockey matches in the fall, the sprinklers wet the turf to ensure the ball can travel along the pitch.
But on special occasions during the offseason, they’re turned on — full blast.
Thursday evening was one of those times, as the national champion-winning Wildcats’ women’s golf program returned from California with some golden hardware in their luggage.
The squad triumphantly sprinted into the wall of water as a raucous crowd of NU supporters welcomed them home to Evanston.
“We put in so many hours of work with the team, on and off the course, team building,” senior Lauryn Nguyen said. “Everything was for this moment. To be able to get this really knocks off a big box on our list.”
The celebrations came a day after the ’Cats hoisted the program’s first-ever national title, knocking off No. 1 Stanford 3-2 in match play, Wednesday night.
But throughout the entire week, No. 11-ranked NU battled to stay alive in a seven-round tournament. The ’Cats defeated No. 2-ranked Arkansas in the match play quarterfinals and No. 5-ranked Oregon in the match play semifinals to keep moving on.
The emotion sparkled in junior Dianna Lee’s eyes as she spoke with the Golf Channel Tuesday evening, just after sinking the winning putt that sent Northwestern to its second-ever national championship.
A dusky hue overtook the golfer’s televised interview on a picturesque evening in Carlsbad, California, a scenic vista of the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa golf course gleaming behind her.
“It’s absolutely everything to me and my team. From day one, this is all we’ve wanted to do,” Lee said. “Our team has so much support and belief in each other, and I know that all I needed to do today was just to focus on myself because I knew that my teammates had their own backs, too.”
From then on, the ’Cats ventured toward a matchup with the nation’s best golf team — one trotting out five golfers ranked within the nation’s top 30.
The team game-planned Tuesday night as Nguyen’s mother did their laundry in between rounds, coach Emily Fletcher said.
“It really wasn’t about us trying to figure out anything about (Stanford),” Fletcher said. “It was about us figuring out things about ourselves and really finding a way for us to be at our best.”
Fletcher also shared that former NU golfer and current PGA Tour golfer Luke Donald reached out to the team the night before the national championship, telling them they deserved to be in that position and to play with conviction.
It was evident from the match’s outset that determining a national champion would come down to the wire.
Though sophomore Ashley Yun fell in the first match to Stanford’s Megha Ganne, No. 35-ranked Nguyen earned the team’s first point by defeating No. 9-ranked Paula Martín Sampedro with an 18th hole birdie to win by one. Nguyen had led for most of the match, but a few mistakes allowed Sampedro to tie it up.
“I think what mattered was the shot I was about to hit, and if I wanted to make up for my mistakes on the last couple of holes, now is the time to do it,” Nguyen said of her thought process on the 18th green. “So being able to step up and hit a good shot, trusting my game and knowing that I’m doing it for someone other than myself, with my team, the Northwestern community, they’re all behind me.”
Freshman Hsin Tai Lin commanded her matchup against Stanford’s Meja Örtengren, the nation’s No. 5-ranked golfer, winning by three holes with two holes left to play. The freshman golfer played with a veteran’s poise, converting long-range putts and a spectacular chip-in during her victory.
Freshman Elise Lee had a back-and-forth battle with the Cardinal’s Kelly Xu but ultimately fell by a hole, knotting the match at 2-2 with only one matchup left: Dianna Lee against Stanford’s Andrea Revuelta.
Holding a one-hole lead over Revuelta on the 18th green, Dianna Lee stood over a short-range putt that, if she connected, would clinch the national championship for the ’Cats.
“I had nothing to lose — we had nothing to lose,” Dianna Lee said. “We didn’t need to prove anything and we had already done so much. I knew that making this putt would mean literally everything, it would be the biggest accomplishment for a program.”
She buried it.
The championship win is the culmination of Fletcher’s 17-season stint at NU’s helm. She and assistant coach Beth Miller have turned the ’Cats into a national powerhouse.
NU reached its 15th straight NCAA Regionals this season. It came up just short of winning the national championship in 2017, falling in the final round to Arizona State.
But this year, as Dianna Lee’s putt found the bottom of the cup, celebrations ensued. The jubilant team donned championship hats and shirts, flew back to Evanston and soaked in the glory — and water — on Lakeside Field, standing on top of the collegiate women’s golf world.
“This is the place to be,” Nguyen said. “Our coaches, our team, proved that we have amazing student-athletes, we have amazing education, we know how to compete, even if we are the underdogs. We make it happen.”
Eli Kronenberg and Charlie Spungin contributed reporting.
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