LACROSSE
The women’s lacrosse team entered this week undefeated, with a record of 12-0 after spending last week on the road against three ranked opponents. For the past two years, the Wildcats suffered their first defeat in their 13th game of the season; this year, the women were determined to break that streak.
On Friday, the No. 1 Wildcats faced the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Semifinals. The game’s first points came about seven minutes in when Northwestern senior Shannon Smith scored, giving the ‘Cats a 1-0 lead, but UNC answered with a goal of its own less than two minutes later. After senior Jessica Russo scored on a free position shot, the Tar Heels responded with three unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead. The teams traded goals for the rest of the half, and at halftime UNC held a 6-4 lead.
In the second period, the ‘Cats came alive, scoring four unanswered goals and keeping UNC out of the net until a shot by senior Becky Lynch with 40 seconds remaining in the game. The Tar Heels wouldn’t score again, however, and the ‘Cats held on for the 8-7 victory. The Northwestern defense won the game in the second half, highlighted by a lockdown performance by sophomore Kerri Harrington, who held the Tar Heels’ leading scorer Laura Zimmerman scoreless on the night.
Sunday afternoon brought the team face to face with No. 19 Johns Hopkins. Northwestern jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held Johns Hopkins scoreless until only ten minutes remained in the first half, when freshman Jenna Kasmarik scored for the Blue Jays. Northwestern led 9-5 at halftime, but Johns Hopkins scored within the first 10 seconds of the second period to bring it to 9-6 – the beginning of a 6-2 scoring run for the Blue Jays that knotted the score at 11-11 with 20 minutes remaining in the game. Feeling the pressure, the Wildcats rattled off five unanswered goals to bring the score to 16-11 with just under seven minutes remaining. The Blue Jays could not battle the late Wildcat surge and eventually fell by a final score of 16-12.
Against UNC, Northwestern was led by Shannon Smith, junior Erin Fitzgerald and junior Taylor Thornton, who each scored two goals. Fitzgerald also excelled against Johns Hopkins, scoring four goals while Shannon Smith and sophomore Kara Mupo added two goals each. The victorious weekend pushed the ‘Cats to 14-0 on the season, and they’ll next put their record on the line Saturday against Florida.
BASEBALL
Men’s baseball had a tough week this week, dropping a game against St. Xavier Tuesday and then getting swept by the Gophers in the weekend series in Minnesota. Kyle Ruchim was the lone scorer for the ‘Cats against St. Xavier, scoring all three runs and recording eight putouts. The Cougars used a much more balanced attack, with eight different players scoring runs and bested the ‘Cats by a score of 9-3.
Against Minnesota, Northwestern kept the first two games close, dropping both by a score of 2-1. Redshirt junior Zach Morton scored Northwestern’s only run in the top of the first in Friday’s game, but the Gophers recorded two runs in the bottom of the first to round out the game’s scoring. On Saturday, Northwestern pitcher Brandon Magallones kept the Gophers scoreless until two runs in the bottom of the ninth, which were enough to eclipse freshman Walker Moses’ one run and give the Gophers the victory.
On Sunday, Northwestern ran out of steam and was shut out, falling 6-0 in the series finale. Minnesota scored three runs in each of the second and fourth innings and the ‘Cats never could respond. The losses dropped Northwestern’s overall record to 10-22, while the defeats by the Gophers dropped Northwestern’s conference record to 3-9.
SOFTBALL
The softball team fared a bit better than the baseball team in its series against Minnesota, pulling out one win out of the team’s three contests against the Gophers. The ladies split their two matches in Saturday’s doubleheader, dropping the first by a score of 10-2. The score was tied 2-2 before the Gophers hit a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning and pushed their lead to 6-2. The ‘Cats couldn’t recover, and the Gophers recorded two more runs in the fifth, ending the game early per the run-rule.
Northwestern junior Meghan Lamberth pitched a shutout – the second of her career – in the second game of Saturday’s double-header, leading the ‘Cats to an 8-0 victory over the Gophers in a run-rule shortened six-inning game. Sophomore Mari Marjam scored two runs in the game, and six other girls scored for the ‘Cats in the game.
After the lopsided nature of Saturday’s doubleheader, where one team dominated each game, Sunday’s matchup was much more even. Freshman Amy Letourneau hit the game-tying home run in the sixth inning, tying the game at 3-3 and forcing extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Northwestern errors led to the Gophers scoring three runs, enough to earn them the 6-3 victory.
The series against Minnesota moved Northwestern’s record to 17-22, 5-7 in the Big Ten. The team next faced Indiana, in a three-game series next Saturday and Sunday in Bloomington.