Welcome to NBN’s coverage of today’s game at Lakeside Field, where our ‘Cats will host the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Stick around for pre-game analysis, live blog, and post-game interviews.
Pre-game
Northwestern is riding a 34-game win streak, and is eager to defend their 3 straight national titles. But first, the Wildcats will have to go through Johns Hopkins. Hopkins is led by seniors Lauren Schwarzmann, Kadie Stamper, and Kirby Houck. But Hopkins has promising youth. Their leading scorer, Sam Schrum, and assist leader Brett Bathras are both sophomores. Midfielders Paige Ibello and Kim Dubansky round out a talented sophomore class marked with talented scorers. Surely, a win here in Evanston would be a career highlight for this young team.
Hopkins is coming off a 17-6 beatdown at University of Virginia. Surely they are eager to dethrone the Wildcats, who are in the same athletic conference and have had little trouble with Hopkins since their run of national championships for the last 3 years. All-time, the Wildcats are 6-2 against Hopkins.
The Wildcats have been inconsistent, but winners, in their last two games. On April 9, NU scored the games’ first fifteen goals en route to a 16-2 win over Notre Dame. On April 13, however, the Cats had to withstand a late rally from the Penn State Nittany Lions on the road before securing their 13th win of the season. The ‘Cats’ leading goal scorer, junior Hilary Bowen has scored in thirty one straight games and sophomore Danielle Spencer has at least three goals in the last three games.
The Blue Jays are going to have to slow down the potent Wildcats’ offense, which has been all but impossible this season. And, they will have to penetrate the physical defense and get by Morgan Lathrop, arguably the best goalie in the nation.
Watch for Danielle Spencer, who has a tendency to rip off several goals in a row. But the ‘Cats are led by 5 All-Americans who are contenders for the Tewaarton Award (Bowen, Lathrop, A Hannah Neilsen, MF Meredith Frank, and D Christy Finch) given to the top player in college lacrosse.
Stay tuned for live blog and analysis.
Live blog
19:00
Unexpectedly, the Blue Jays have jumped out to a 3-1 lead. The opening goal came less than a minute and a half into the game from Hopkins senior Houck. The ‘Cats tied it 1-1 with an unassisted effort from Hilary Bowen, but Hopkins got two from senior MF Stamper off of free possessions. Then, Hilary Bowen got brutally checked while trying to split a double team, and retaliated with an unassisted effort on the next possession. There have been a lot of fouls called right away and this game has been very physical. Morgan Lathrop has looked surprisingly vulnerable and the ‘Cats are looking for holes in this extremely talented Hopkins defense. Timeout on the field.
3-2, JHU
13:00
The Blue Jays have continued to run the show here, despite no change in the score in the last six minutes. NU GK Lathrop is keeping the ‘Cats in the game, making two key saves. But the standout player so far on both teams is JHU GK Lizzie O’Ferrall, who our CBS colleagues say is the fourth Hopkins GK this season. She has at least 3 saves… But she can’t stop Hannah Neilsen, who just put up another Northwestern goal. Maybe the the ‘Cats are finding themselves on offense.
3-3, Tie
7:53
Both teams traded goals, with Houck getting her second goal to break the 3-3 tie. Then, Danielle Spencer was pulling away on a fast break, but was brutally checked. She retaliated with a free position goal, blowing a huge shot past O’Ferrall. But O’Ferrall has still been stellar in the first half, with 4 saves. There have been 23 fouls in the first 22 minutes, an indication of just how tough this game has been. The Hopkins defense has been nothing short of impressive.
4-4, Tie.
5.42
Hopkins took advantage of lapses in the Cats’ defense to take a 6-4 lead. First, Sophomore Sam Schrum scored off a Northwestern turnover just in front of the Wildcats’ net. Then a few minutes later, the Cats defense over-commited, allowing Senior Lauren Schwarzmann to break in and score. On the last goal, the Blue Jays used the aggressiveness of the Wildcats’ defense against them, getting the Cats’ defenders to come outside and open up the middle for Schwarzmann.
6-4, JHU
Halftime:
To end the half, senior Kadie Stamper hit a miraculous falling-down goal with 10 seconds left, putting Hopkins up 7-4. However, Northwestern somehow answered with a goal in 10 seconds, with a beautiful pass from Hannah Neilsen to Casey Donahoe, who hit a topshelf shot as time expired. Northwestern’s last-second goal keeps them in this game, as they are only down two goals despite being stopped on offense and letting the Hopkins attack penetrate.
Northwestern has shot more than Hopkins, leading in that margin 15-14, but Hopkins leads in saves 5-4. Bowen has two goals, Spencer, Neilsen, and Donahoe have one each. Neilsen also has the team’s only assist. Hopkins is led by Kadie Stamper, who has three goals. Houck has two, and Schwarzmann and Schrum have one each.
Keys to the second half:
To prevent the upset, Northwestern will need to do a better job of penetrating on the offensive side. The Blue Jays did a great job of controlling the play in front of their net, thwarting Northwestern’s passing game. On the defensive side, the Cats must stay patient. They got in trouble in the first half by pursuing the attackers too far from the net. The Wildcats also need to do a better job of matching the Jays’ intensity level.
2nd Half:
23:13
The second half has really started in the Jays’ favor. The foul difference is now 21-14 in favor of Hopkins, which directly correlates to this more important stat: 9-6 Hopkins.
The ‘Cats opened the half with a quick goal from Neilsen, her second, but then Paige Ibello went on the board for Hopkins, making it a 2-goal margin again. Then, Kadie Stemper netted her fourth goal, as she picked apart the Northwestern defense seemingly by herself. Bowen hit a shot off the post, and Spencer hit a goal but was denied after an offensive foul was called.
However, Spencer just answered; assist from Hannah Neilsen. The ‘Cats will need more from Neilsen, Spencer, Bowen, and the rest of their standouts to carry them through the rest of this game.
As soon as I stop writing, the ‘Cats score again. That one was Casey Donahoe’s second, off another assist from Neilsen, who now has three for the game. The ‘Cats’ passing on offense has allowed for them to finally get some penetration against Hopkins.
9-8, JHU
21:07
Hannah Neilsen just tied it up. She’s single-handedly bringing the ‘Cats back with three goals and three assists. Northwestern has a clear edge in momentum now. They have not led all game…. until NOW! Hilary Bowen just got herself a hat trick, putting in her third goal of the game unassisted. Then, Brooke Matthews, who runs like a gazelle, put in an unassisted goal, making it 6 unanswered in less than 3 minutes.
Two minutes later, Katrina Dowd, put in another, her first. Northwestern is suddenly pouring it on.
11-9, your Northwestern Wildcats.
11:00
A lot of time gone, and Northwestern has really held on with good poise. They’re shooting 80% in the second half. They got two more goals, one from Neilsen and one from Frank. Hopkins, though, gets two more goals as well, including Stamper’s fifth. She has been playing admirably tonight.
13-11, NU
6:15
Bowen adds her fifth goal. ‘Cat’s are running the show.
14-11, NU
1:12
Northwestern looks like they’re on their way to a 35th-straight win. 14-11 with seconds to go. NU really pulled it together in the second half.
Final:
14-12 NU. Johns Hopkins got a garbage goal at the buzzer. Northwestern is 14-0, on a 35-game win streak! Come back to our site on Sunday for our game against UNC. Thanks for reading!
Post-game interview: