Faced with a tough task of playing two games in three days far from home on the East Coast, the fifth-ranked Northwestern women's lacrosse team went 1-1 over the weekend, beating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 18-6 on Friday night but falling to the ninth-ranked Stony Brook Seawolves 11-9 on Sunday afternoon. The 'Cats came back to Evanston with a 9-4 overall record and a 2-1 record in Big Ten play.
On Friday, NU and Rutgers traded goals early and played to a 2-2 stalemate in the first 15 minutes of the first half. But the 'Cats went on a 10-0 run over the next 25 minutes extending into the second half to put the game on ice. NU dominated draw controls 18-8 and outshot Rutgers 33-10 (and 20-2 in the second half), allowing the 'Cats to cruise to an 18-6 victory. Senior attacker Kara Mupo led all scorers with four goals, and was one of 12 different Wildcats who found their names in the scoring column.
Two days later, Northwestern matched up with a much stiffer opponent in the ninth-ranked Seawolves. SBU showed why they're ranked that high early, hopping out to an early 5-0 lead just 13 minutes into the game. NU clawed back to score three straight as the first half expired, but SBU went on a 5-2 extended run to make its lead 10-5 with just 7:20 left. The 'Cats made a late push, cutting the lead to 10-8 with three goals in about two minutes, but SBU was able to fend them off, answering with a goal of its own and withstanding a late Mupo tally to escape with an 11-9 win. Freshman attacker Selena Lasota led all 'Cats in scoring with four goals.
The 'Cats will be back in action on Thursday evening in South Bend for a non-conference matchup with 12th-ranked Notre Dame before coming home for a Sunday home conference tilt against 15th-ranked Penn State.