These two teams last played each other in 2022.
No. 1 Northwestern will host No. 8 Penn on Thursday in the the NCAA quarterfinals. It’s the last home game of the season and will determine if the ‘Cats head to Cary, North Carolina. Here is what Northwestern needs to do to advance to its fourth straight Final Four:
Composed but forceful offense
This is a classic offensive-defensive battle. Northwestern has an artillery of offensive weapons with Izzy Scane, Erin Coykendall and Madison Taylor being just a few of the many successful scorers. But defense is the Quakers’ biggest asset.
“I don’t think Northwestern has seen a defense like this,” Penn coach Karin Corbett said to USA Lacrosse. “I know they play a really tough schedule, but this is a little bit different defense than what they have seen.”
Penn has the No. 9 defense in the country, and is only allowing about nine goals per game while ranking No. 11 in the country for caused turnovers. Playing in the Ivy League, the Quakers have not had as tough as a schedule as the ‘Cats, but they did beat Maryland in the regular season and Loyola in both the regular season and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The offense needs to play with composure and work to find the open shooter or draw free position opportunities. Against Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament championship, Northwestern managed just one goal in the first quarter. But once the ‘Cats stopped rushing and started passing more, they were able to score.
In order for Northwestern to come out strong, it may actually need to slow down its pace in order for drives to be successful. That requires getting everyone involved. Scane and Coykendall will likely bear the brunt of an aggressive defense, which means Taylor, Dylan Amonte and Lindsay Frank will start the game as the ones with a path to the cage.
Defense. Defense. Defense
The ‘Cats headed into the NCAA Tournament coming off a stretch of tight games, beating Michigan 13-12, Johns Hopkins 13-12 and Penn State 14-12. While this attack will inevitably rack up a decent amount of goals, the defense will also need to lock down.
If Sammy White, Kendall Halpern, Carleigh Mahoney, Jane Hansen and goalkeeper Molly Laliberty can limit the Quakers’ scoring, then a win is easily feasible — even against one of the best defenses in the country.
Penn has dangerous shooters in Anna Brandt (58 goals), Niki Miles (54), Catherine Berkery (34) and Keeley Block (29). With two players who have over 50 goals, this offense should not be perceived lightly. Penn is averaging about 13 goals per game, and since the ‘Cats gave up 12 to Michigan, Johns Hopkins and Penn State, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Quakers score about that.
Penn also played a relatively clean game against Loyola last weekend. The Quakers had just seven turnovers in their 12-9 victory. In a dominant 17-4 win over Denver in the second round of the Tournament, NU had 14. That means the Northwestern defense has to maximize any missed shots or ground balls because it may not happen often.
Limiting turnovers and halting Penn’s opportunities will be crucial to a quarterfinals victory.
Maximize Possession
To put it simply: possession wins games. The draw will always be pivotal to wins.
When Northwestern suffered its first loss of the season, it lost 20 of 28 draws to Notre Dame and fell 14-10.
While Northwestern did beat Michigan, Johns Hopkins and Penn State, the draw was a huge factor in how those games played out. The ‘Cats won the draw battle 18 to 11 to the Wolverines and 17 to 12 to the Huskies while losing the battle to the Blue Jays, 16-11. These certainly didn’t lead Northwestern to dominate the games, but they predicted how the games went in terms of closeness and NU’s ability to win.
Northwestern is coming off a dominant draw performance against Denver, winning 16 of the 23 opportunities. In the first quarter alone, the ‘Cats won the first nine draws and got off to a 8-1 lead.
Keeping up that success will be helpful against Penn. If the game gets close, those possession opportunities can make all the difference.
The game is slated for 6:30 p.m. CST on Thursday.