The 2014-15 year in Northwestern sports has been a weird year in that there have been thrilling victories juxtaposed with soul-crushing defeats. In other words, it was a pretty average year for the Wildcats across the board. As we look back on an eventful athletic year, NBN Sports staffers recap their personal highlights and lowlights, from Tre Demps redefining the term "clutch gene" to Trevor Siemian getting very well acquainted with the Ryan Field grass one afternoon in November.
Highlights:
Jack Mitchell 6, Notre Dame 0 — Andy Brown
What would this compilation of high and low be without mentioning the field goals that may transcend all Northwestern sports past, present and future. Jack Mitchell, who missed two PATs in a game earlier in the year, blasted two 40+ yard field goals through the frigid air to tie and win it for NU over Notre Dame, 43-40. I watched both while freezing my ass off, standing right next to the Notre Dame sideline and listening to the pocket of purple fans in the far side of the stadium go absolutely berserk. I'm never going to forget dropping all journalistic objectivity and running over to celebrate the shocking win with all the Wildcat fans, who, like me, had traveled from Evanston with no expectations of walking out from the shadow of Touchdown Jesus with a win. And yet, miraculously, we did.
Tre Demps eats Michigan for breakfast — Austin Siegel
Where do I start with this one? It was the greatest basketball game I’ve ever been to and convinced me that Tre Demps might be a little too clutch for his own good. With the ‘Cats trailing Michigan heading into the final minute, Northwestern looked headed for yet another agonizing loss. But down three at the end of regulation, the ‘Cats got the ball to Tre Demps who hit a deep fadeaway triple to force overtime. Welsh-Ryan Arena went bonkers. But Demps was just getting started. In OT, the ‘Cats faced the exact same situation and needed a three-pointer to force a second overtime. They went to Demps again. He didn’t miss. I’ve never seen a player hit two bigger shots in the same game. I’ve never heard Welsh-Ryan get that loud. And I’ll never forget this night, when Tre Demps single-handedly delivered Northwestern one of its biggest victories of the season.
Women’s basketball exorcises the Blue Demons — Jeremy Layton
2015 wasn’t the year for the men’s team to get the March Madness monkey off its back, but the women’s team made it to the tournament for the first time in almost 20 years, and had a number of remarkable wins along the way. Perhaps their most thoroughly entertaining victory came at the beginning of the season, a double-overtime contest against then-18th-ranked DePaul. Featuring 23 lead changes, the game was a nail-biter from the tip-off until the ‘Cats finally pulled away at the end. Nia Coffey punctuated the beginning of her breakout campaign by scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, and Northwestern improved to 5-0. Plus, it’s always sweet when a big victory comes against a cross-town rival like the Blue Demons.
Selena Lasota puts the team on her back, doe — Jason Mast
Some coaches talk about freshman getting their feet wet. Selena Lasota dove headfirst from Campbell River, British Columbia, a small fishing town without a girls’ lacrosse team for miles around, into the most successful collegiate women’s lacrosse program of the past ten years. She was named to the All-Big Ten team after leading the conference in goals per game (3.29) and becoming the first Northwestern freshman since 2003 to score more than 50 times in a season. Lasota was also named an IWLCA second team All-American. So even as Northwestern lacrosse went through a rare rough patch, failing to make the Final Four for the first time since 2004, the Lasota-led future looks much like the recent past.
Lowlights:
Box out - (v.) to position oneself between an opposing player and the basket to hinder the opposing player from rebounding or tipping in a shot — Andy Brown
Chris Martin of Coldplay once said "nobody said it was easy [to put away a top ten team on the road]," but NU came oh-so-close against Maryland on Januay 25, with a 21-point effort from Bryant McIntosh, and a go-ahead jumper from Tre Demps with 9.3 seconds remaining to put the 'Cats up by one point. Melo Trimble came down the court afterwards and chucked up a rushed three that was off the mark, but JerShon Cobb failed to box out UMD's Dez Wells, who grabbed the rebound and banked it in – all in one motion – to give the Terps the 68-67 lead with 1.4 seconds left. And that was all she wrote. My heart literally ached, and although I'd be the last person to drink my sports sorrows away, never in my life have I so desperately wanted to do just that.
Northwestern vs. Cal: an afternoon that will live in infamy — Austin Siegel
The Northwestern vs. Cal football game this season took a couple hours, but it was a slow-motion car crash not many freshmen will soon forget, because it served as our introduction to Northwestern sports. I was watching the game with my family, decked out in all the Northwestern gear I had wisely purchased before coming to Evanston (because they don’t just hand that stuff out once you get up here). Campus looked great. Fitz looked pumped. The student section looked…well, campus looked great. And then the game started. By the time the third quarter rolled around, Cal was up 31-7 and I was starting to wonder what exactly I’d gotten myself into. To their credit, the ‘Cats eventually made it competitive and only lost by a touchdown, but it was still a pretty disappointing afternoon. I’ve still never had so much purple pride go to waste.
Trevor Siemian bites the dust — Jeremy Layton
I was in London for the Michigan-Northwestern football game, and I still chose to stay in and waste one of my precious nights abroad watching it. In hindsight, I would have rather spent my night watching re-runs of Pimp My Ride UK. The whole game was downright laughable on both sides, with almost as many combined turnovers (6) as points (7) through the first three quarters. The lowest moment, of the game and perhaps the whole season, was the final one, where Fitz elected to go for two after a late touchdown instead of kicking a PAT to tie the game. Then, when current Denver Bronco Trevor Siemian dropped back to pass, he collapsed to the turf in a manner that couldn’t have capped off the game any more perfectly. Maybe Peyton Manning will teach him a thing or two about footwork.
"'Cause it's one, two, 36 losses, you're out at the old ball game" — Jason Mast
A new turf field at Rocky Miller Park was supposed to represent a new beginning for Northwestern baseball. While expectations may not have been high (the club did finish 19-33 in 2014) there was potential for the first Big Ten Tournament birth since 2010 with several key players returning. But the NCAA suspended star outfielder Kyle Ruchim for the first six games of the season, poor winter weather (who could have foreseen cold and snow in Chicago?) delayed stadium renovation, the Wildcats dropped nine of their first ten games and lost by more than ten runs five times throughout the season. There were some bright spots: a monster season from Ruchim, complete game shutouts from Matt Portland and Brandon Magallones and a series win against Maryland to close out the year. But ultimately the Wildcats finished 18-36 and once again failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.