With Saturday’s Spring Game and this week’s announcement of Northwestern’s home-and-home series against Notre Dame, football proved once again that no matter what the season, it will always be king of the sports news cycle. Yet despite the big offseason news, there is still plenty to talk about in the wide, wide world of Wildcat athletics.
Women’s Lacrosse
In news that may have (thankfully) slipped under the radar for most Northwestern students and fans, the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team had perhaps their worst week in eight years. After predictably and impressively starting out the season 12-0, defeating ten Top 20 teams in the process, the No. 2 Wildcats shockingly dropped their two games this week. Don’t look up. The is sky falling.
First, they went down to the No. 6 Florida Gators in Gainesville, 13-11. They went down early, 5-1, and although they mounted a valiant comeback, they could never retake the lead. Then, in the real stunner of the week, they fell at the hands of unranked Johns Hopkins, 12-11, despite the Blue Jays second-leading scorer Taylor D’Amore being out for most of the game after picking up a pair of yellow cards.
They will get the chance to halt their losing streak on Friday, when they return home to face Ohio State. Never thought the women’s lacrosse team and losing streak would be in the same sentence.
Softball
During the week, Northwestern looked at times like they could be getting ready to make some real noise in the Big Ten. They split a doubleheader on Wednesday with the Michigan State Spartans, getting decked in only five innings 13-4 in the first game, but bounced back with the 4-2 victory in the nightcap.
However, over the weekend, disaster struck twice. They lost the first of their two-game road series with the Iowa Hawkeyes, 10-8, when Iowa player Johnnie Dowling hit a walk-off two-run homer off of freshman sensation Sammy Albanese in the eighth inning. Then, on Sunday, they built an early 7-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings, before an error-filled bottom of the fourth, which led to eight Hawkeye runs. The final was 9-7. The second loss of the weekend dropped Northwestern to 2-6 in the Big Ten.
Baseball
No matter what the results, the Northwestern baseball team will be sure to always remember this weekend. After losing a road contest with UIC due to a disastrous six-run second inning for the Flames, the team headed north for a three game series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The catch? The games were played at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
Despite taking an early 3-0 lead in game 1, a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and seventh pushed the Golden Gophers to a 7-4 victory. Starting pitcher Luke Farrell allowed only one run on seven hits in seven innings. And on Sunday, they closed out their memorable trip with another victory, scoring a run in each the seventh and eighth to go up 4-3, the eventual final score. Despite their 10-21 overall record, the Wildcats are now 3-5 in conference play.
Golf
The men’s team finished 3rd out of 14 in the rain-shortened Illini Spring Classic in Urbana this weekend. They were in 7th after the first round, but charged on the second day, led by junior Eric Chun, who placed 2nd individually. This was the team’s highest finish in 2011.
The women’s team took 5th place at the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus. Sophomore Lauren Weaver was the team’s top performer, finishing at 16-over-par and in seventh place overall.
Tennis
The men’s team struggled during their Indiana state tour. They suffered a 5-2 loss to No. 23 Indiana on Friday in Bloomington. They then lost a tough matchup against Purdue in West Lafayette on Sunday, 4-3. They won all three of their doubles matches, yet dropped all four singles matches.
The women’s team had a tough home loss to No. 7 Baylor, 4-3, on Thursday. But they responded with a 6-1 throttling of Indiana on Saturday and a 6-1 victory over Purdue for Senior Day on Sunday. They are still undefeated in Big Ten play, at 7-0.