Claws will meet claws once more this season.
One year after the ‘Cats heartbreaking loss to Boston College in the NCAA Championship Game, they have returned for redemption. The first obstacle for No. 3 Northwestern (16-2, 8-0 B1G) is the No. 13 Michigan Wolverines (12-6, 5-3 B1G). The Wolverines dominated Akron 17-6 on Friday afternoon to earn a rematch against the Big Ten champions.
When the two met on April 17, the ‘Cats got the clock running for a 15–6 victory. In the postseason, however, the purple and white have looked increasingly vulnerable. What does Northwestern need to do to repeat its past success?
Weather the Early Storm – Don’t Panic
In their first meeting, Northwestern found itself down 3–0 at the end of the first quarter. The ‘Cats remained down until halfway through the second. At that same point during Michigan’s Big Ten Semifinal loss to No. 6 Maryland, the score was 5–5. The squad was up 8–1 only 23 minutes into Michigan’s NCAA first round match against Akron.
The Wolverines come out of the gates swinging against opponents of any caliber. Northwestern, meanwhile, has become more and more of a second half team as the quality of competition has increased. Take, for example, the ‘Cats’ Big Ten semifinal matchup against No. 8 Johns Hopkins. Whereas the regular season matchup saw the ‘Cats up six goals with seven minutes left in the half, their postseason rematch gave Northwestern only a one-point cushion at that same time.
Obviously, defense is critical from the opening draw in the first until the final whistle blows in the fourth. Still, Northwestern’s backfield will have to hone in on containing senior attackers Jill Smith and Kaylee Dyer early on. The duo owns 40% of Michigan’s goals and 45% of its assists this season. All-American defenders Sammy White and Jane Hansen will have their hands full with more than just their sticks on Sunday.
Keep an eye on Michigan junior attacker Calli Norris. She has only started five games this season, but she accounts for 36 of Michigan’s goals. Against Akron, Norris threw down five goals – three of those were in the first quarter.
Capitalize on Free Positions
Madison Taylor is the most heralded scorer in the nation — she’s a Tewaaraton finalist for a reason, after all. The junior attacker has found much of her success on free positions this year, earning a NCAA best 32 goals. Over the Wildcats’ first seven wins, she averaged three free position goals a game with 81% accuracy. There is nowhere that Taylor is more comfortable than the penalty arc.
Well, at least she used to be comfortable from eight meters.
Taylor has not scored off more than two free positions in one game since March. Against Maryland on April 27, Taylor earned six free positions. How many did she score? None. This, from the most prolific free position mercenary this year.
Over her past several games, Taylor has earned plenty of penalty attempts, but opposing goalies have successfully saved the vast majority of them early in the game. No. 25 has resorted to passing many of these attempts away, and NU’s success rate on penalties has declined rapidly as a result.
This issue is not only Taylor’s responsibility. Over the month of April, Northwestern’s offense has converted less than a third of its penalty opportunities. In none of its games did Northwestern score 50+% of its free positions, and in the Big Ten title game the ‘Cats went 0-for-9.
Taylor and Co. will need to pump fake with their sticks rather than just their bodies. The ‘Cats launch free position shots from the arc, mid-range and right on top of the goalie. From whatever distance, opposing defenders are able to predict early where the shot is headed. Consequently, most attempts end with a stick check or save. Northwestern will have to be intentional to feign shots to multiple corners of the cage to reopen lanes to the goal.
Shoot… Shoot… SHOOT!!!
If Northwestern does not, Michigan will.
The Wolverines have not shot the ball fewer than 23 times in one game this season apart from a Week 2 collapse against No. 7 Yale. Since the start of the postseason, they have put up 33, 30 and 33 shots against USC, Maryland and Akron, respectively.
Graduate goalie Delaney Sweitzer has been victimized in the ‘Cats’ last couple of games. Against Johns Hopkins, she allowed 15 goals of the Blue Jays 29 total shots. In the first half against Maryland, she allowed five of the Terrapins seven shots. The offense will have to account for this by keeping the pressure on the Wolverines all game long.
Against Maryland, however, Northwestern’s accuracy was more than suspect. Out of 41 shots, only 10 were on target, and only eight resulted in scores. That is a season low number of scores for Northwestern off of the fourth-most shots they’ve attempted this year.
If the Wildcats give themselves time to warm up, their accuracy will improve throughout the tournament. But if they want to break their latest trends, they will need to keep firing until they find a groove. The only way to get out of this slump is through in-game reps for Northwestern.
That is what they did, on a small scale, against Maryland. During the first three quarters, Northwestern shot the ball 34 times. Only 20 were on target. Only five went in. During the fourth quarter, Northwestern only posted seven shots. Of the six that were on target, three were scores.
Yes, 8-for-41 is not a stat line that the ‘Cats ever want to see again. However, they only won that game because they were willing to throw spaghetti against the wall until it stuck. The earlier they figure out what sticks here in May, the more dangerous they will be to the other top seeds.
Northwestern’s first draw of the NCAA tournament is on Sunday, May 9 at 2 p.m. CDT.