FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller stood soaked to the bone as her team huddled up entering the fourth quarter of their semifinal clash against Boston College, trailing 11-6.
As a torrential downpour battered Gillette Stadium, the No. 3-seeded Wildcats (19-2, 8-0 Big Ten) were acutely aware of the circumstances required to keep their season alive.
The squad gathered together as the veteran coach exhorted them to continue competing, one goal at a time.
“Throughout a game, you can kind of get into your head,” Amonte Hiller said. “You have to get out of your head and into your heart. And that’s what they were able to do.”
NU stormed back into the contest, ripping off six straight goals to take down the Eagles (19-3, 8-1 ACC) 12-11, advancing to the national championship for the third consecutive year.
The ’Cats will take on No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday.
“It never gets old, especially with this group,” junior attacker Madison Taylor said. “As you get a little bit older, you feel a little more grateful each year that you get to be able to share it with all the people who haven’t been there before.”
Though Boston College took the opening draw, the ’Cats opened the scoring. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Jaylen Rosga caused a turnover, leaving Taylor to snag the ground ball. Taylor sprinted downfield and powered a shot past Eagles goalkeeper Shea Dolce to put NU up 1-0.
Taylor, who has now officially clinched the NCAA’s single-season scoring record, led the ’Cats with four goals and four assists Friday. On the season, she sits at 109 goals.
As NU’s defense stood firm, graduate student attacker Niki Miles scored a pair of goals within 30 seconds of each other. The ’Cats led 3-0 midway through the first quarter.
Graduate student attacker Riley Campbell scored her first of two goals with four minutes remaining in the first frame, converting from Taylor’s diving feed to put NU up 4-1.
The Eagles then tallied a pair of goals in the waning moments of the first quarter to trim the deficit to 4-3.
Boston College tied the game a minute into the second quarter, much to the delight of the local faithful. The official attendance for Friday’s game was 10,080 fans, many of whom were decked out in Eagles neon.
“We knew that it was going to be very hard coming in here to Gillette, being the underdog, not the home team,” Amonte Hiller said. “We had talked about that, prepared for that mentally, and just really tried to utilize that to fuel us rather than to get us down.”
The ’Cats and Eagles traded goals before Boston College went on a small run, scoring twice more to extend their lead to 7-5. Senior midfielder Emerson Bohlig scored with nine seconds left in the first half to cut into the deficit as the squads entered the locker room.
The third quarter, however, was all Eagles.
The home team outscored NU 4-0 in the third quarter, featuring goals from four different scorers. Boston College’s Mckenna Davis notched a goal and an assist in the frame en route to a three-goal, two-assist outing.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Eagles had NU on the ropes. The defending champions appeared to have a chance to reach the national title game once again.
But Amonte Hiller’s message was well-received.
Junior attacker Lucy Munro scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a player-up opportunity to chip into the Boston College lead. Senior midfielder Sam Smith corralled the draw before Taylor scored her third goal of the game on a free position.
From there, Taylor won the draw and freshman attacker Aditi Foster punched in a goal to cut the deficit to 11-9. Smith won the next draw and then Taylor converted another free-position goal to make it 11-10. The ’Cats outdrew Boston College 19-8 Friday.
The momentum began to shift. One goal at a time. One draw at a time.
“We were down by a lot, and we said, ‘This is right where we want to be,’” Taylor said. “We never stopped believing in each other and what this team could do, and we just fought to the very end.”
Campbell won the next draw. Half a minute of game time later, Bohlig found her in the fan. Campbell dodged a defender, shook free and fired a shot that found nylon. 11-11, tie game, seven minutes left.
Boston College won the following draw, but graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer saved a shot to return the ’Cats’ possession with all of the momentum.
With five and a half minutes left, Taylor cradled the ball at the top of the fan, surveying her options. She flicked a pass toward Smith, who managed to find a modicum of room directly in front of the Eagles’ crease. Smith, with a jump step, powered a shot past Dolce to give NU the lead.
“We knew that they were going to double (Taylor) because she’s an unstoppable force,” Smith said. “Someone slid off the top girl, and I cut behind that, and I just was open.”
The ’Cats defense upped its game to the next level as the final five minutes ticked off the clock. Boston College attacker Mia Mascone found herself with a point-blank scoring opportunity with four seconds left, but Sweitzer stood tall, making a stick save to send NU on to the national championship.
A swarm of drenched ’Cats descended upon their goalkeeper as they celebrated, a team filled with heart that had played itself onto the game’s highest stage.
“(This team) really (does) love each other, a lot,” Amonte Hiller said. “It’s ever-present in the locker room and in practices, and that’s really what carried them.”
NU takes on North Carolina at 11 a.m. Sunday as it looks to win the program’s ninth national championship.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Lacrosse: No. 3 Northwestern prepares to ship up to Boston for Final Four
— Lacrosse: No. 3 Northwestern readies for late-morning NCAA Tournament quarterfinal clash with Penn
