No. 1-seed Northwestern was in the midst of a back-and-forth brawl with No. 4-seed Michigan at U-M Lacrosse Stadium, tied 6-6 in the third quarter of their Big Ten Tournament semifinal matchup Friday.
Just six days prior, the Wildcats (14-3, 7-1 Big Ten) found themselves in a very similar situation, facing a 5-5 tie in the fourth quarter as the visitors against the Wolverines (12-6, 5-3 Big Ten). NU won the game 9-7, clinching its fourth consecutive outright Big Ten regular season title.
When the ’Cats returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the conference tournament, they didn’t let Michigan exact revenge. NU ventured on a 4-0 scoring run and took a 10-6 lead, holding the Wolverines to a 13-minute scoring drought. Though Michigan tacked on one goal before the end of regulation, it wasn’t enough.
NU clinched its fourth straight Big Ten Championship appearance, taking down the Wolverines 10-7. The win marked the ’Cats’ 20th all-time win over Michigan, which has never beaten NU.
“All season long, they’ve played with a lot of heart,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller told Big Ten Network about her team’s defense postgame. “Obviously, our offense knows how to score goals, but the D was really able to stifle (Michigan).”
The three-headed monster of sophomore attacker Aditi Foster, junior midfielder Taylor Lapointe and senior attacker Madison Taylor dominated for NU, scoring eight of the team’s 10 goals. Foster and Lapointe notched hat tricks, while Taylor tallied two goals and three assists.
Between the pipes, graduate student goalkeeper Jenika Cuocco corralled nine saves while conceding seven goals. It marks her fourth straight game allowing fewer than 10 goals and her seventh game making more saves than goals allowed.
Through the first 25 minutes of the game, the teams had a defensive standoff. The Wolverines stacked up possessions thanks to a 5-1 draw control lead and six turnovers from the ’Cats, but Cuocco made four saves during that span and Michigan held a 3-2 lead.
As the game approached halftime, the Wolverines nabbed another goal to extend their lead to two. On the ensuing draw, the game flipped on its head.
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Madison Smith corralled the draw for NU, starting a 9-4 run on the draw over the rest of the contest.
“The draw team, they just stepped up,” Amonte Hiller said. “On the draw, it’s not always pretty, you just gotta bear down and come up with plays.”
Thirty-six seconds after Smith’s draw control, Foster found the back of the net for her second goal of the game. She started a 3-0 scoring run for the ’Cats, who took a 5-4 lead into halftime. The game-tying second goal of the run came on a tough play from junior midfielder Noel Cumberland, who picked up a ground ball and fired a behind-the-back shot past four Wolverines for the score.
Though Michigan was unable to regain its lead during the remainder of the contest, the second half was filled with hard-fought lacrosse.
Early in the third quarter, the Wolverines tied the game at 5-5, a score that held for nearly seven minutes until the scoring picked up. Foster and Michigan attacker Calli Norris traded goals over the span of one minute before NU closed out the quarter with three more goals.
The ’Cats only managed to score once more in the contest, taking a 10-6 lead, but it was all they needed as their defense bunkered down. Despite seven shots for the Wolverines in the final 15 minutes, they only scored once. Cuocco picked up two more saves, NU caused two turnovers and the ’Cats’ offense milked all 90 seconds of their possessions until the final buzzer sounded.
En route to the semifinal victory, NU allowed three goals in the second half, its 12th game allowing five or fewer second-half goals.
Smith finished the contest with seven draw controls and two caused turnovers. Graduate student midfielder Annabel Child picked up five ground balls and caused one turnover, and sophomore midfielder Hannah Rudolph tallied three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
The ’Cats look to win their fourth straight Big Ten Championship when they take on No. 2-seed Maryland on Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT.
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