Northwestern lacrosse showed a few cracks and a whole lot of fight

Against Johns Hopkins, the ‘Cats were on the ropes for the first time in a month.

Northwestern lacrosse last lost on March 27 against No. 1 North Carolina. The ‘Cats led 8-6 at halftime but surrendered seven straight goals after the break on their way to a 15-12 defeat.

After losing to UNC, Northwestern won its next six games by an average margin of 9.5 goals. 17-8 against No. 25 USC in Los Angeles. 18-5 against No. 9 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. 15-6 vs. Rutgers. 19-10 vs. Oregon. 15-6 vs. No. 12 Michigan. 20-12 vs. Ohio State.

The closest another team got to Northwestern in the fourth quarter was USC, which made it a four-goal game with 12 minutes left. The ‘Cats would score the next five to blow that game open.

Dominance doesn’t quite describe what Madison Taylor did to Oregon two weeks ago to christen Martin Stadium for women’s lacrosse. Seven goals and four assists in the first half. It was an “I’m so much better than you, and everybody knows it” performance. LeBron in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics. To borrow from Bill Simmons, “It was like watching surveillance video of a serial killer coldly dismembering a body and sticking the parts in the fridge. Only we were right there.”

When Michigan gained a first-quarter 3-0 lead on Northwestern a week later, nobody who followed the Wildcats for the past month had any doubt that they would come back. The ‘Cats scored seven straight and forced a running clock in the fourth quarter. Clarice, are the lambs still screaming?

Northwestern did not run through Hopkins with the same ease Friday afternoon in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. There were many moments where it looked like the ‘Cats would run away with it. After falling 2-1 early, Northwestern ripped off five straight goals to make it 6-2 with 10 minutes to play in the second quarter. Hopkins was on its heels, the obituary already half written.

The Blue Jays scored the next three goals.

Northwestern scored two goals in the first 90 seconds of the second half to extend its lead to three. Again, Johns Hopkins answered.

Northwestern led 15-11 with nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter. It was 15-14 two minutes later.

Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s squad did not trail after tying the game at two with 3:51 to play in the first quarter, but this win was anything but dominant. Behind defender Reagan O’Brien, who set the NCAA single-season record for caused turnovers on Friday, Johns Hopkins gave Tewaaraton favorite Madison Taylor all she could handle in College Park.

Taylor had seven free-position opportunities against the Blue Jays—the most she’s had in any game all season—and I bet Amonte Hiller would tell you she should have had at least ten. Northwestern’s star was battered and bruised inside the eight-meter arc all afternoon. She scored four goals on 10 shots, converting just two of her seven free-position opportunities in her worst performance from eight meters out since Northwestern’s first matchup with the Blue Jays three weeks ago. Taylor finished with five total points, her lowest total since she put up four points in Northwestern’s loss to UNC in March. That said, her numbers only seem pedestrian because of how phenomenal she’s been all year — her “bad” day is a good one for most players in the country.

Johns Hopkins goalie Morgan Giardina deserves as much credit as anyone for slowing the Taylor wagon. Her career-high 12 saves kept the Blue Jays in the game. Her last — a kick save on the ground to stop a Riley Campbell free position shot with 2:17 left in the fourth and NU leading 16-15 — gave Hopkins a real chance to pull off the upset.

With Taylor going to war with O’Brien and Giardina, Northwestern’s Niki Miles put together her best game in purple and white. The graduate attacker was downright incredible in the second half, almost single-handedly building Northwestern’s 15-11 lead with three unassisted goals after the break. Her third of half two — and her season-best fifth of the day — was as smooth a goal you will ever see. Miles made two Hopkins defenders with a spin move fitting of a Thompson twin, before ripping a five-hole finish from below her hips. Northwestern is not playing on Sunday without her.

The ‘Cats showed some real cracks late in this one. They let Johns Hopkins back into the game in the fourth quarter in part because of two fouls from Sammy White. Hopkins scored each of its three goals to cut the score from 15-11 to 15-14 with a one-woman advantage.

Northwestern led Hopkins in draw controls, but the Blue Jays led 6-2 in the circle in the fourth quarter.

It was an uncharacteristically tense final minute for a Northwestern team that has had zero trouble romping through the Big Ten up to this point. If Delaney Sweitzer isn’t between the posts, Campbell Case likely ties the game from the 12-meter arc with 38 seconds left. The cold-blooded ‘Cats looked mortal in conference play for the first time all year.

That’s not a bad thing.

In Northwestern’s two losses to No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Boston College, it was within two goals with three minutes to play. The ‘Cats hadn’t felt real pressure in a month before Hopkins ripped off three straight in the fourth quarter. Northwestern was on the ropes, and its veterans responded. Lucy Munro and Taylor Lapointe connected for a gorgeous goal less than a minute after JHU’s Samantha DiCarlo cut it to one. That backdoor cut from Lapointe was spectacular.

Northwestern will likely have to get by both Boston College and North Carolina if it wants to raise the trophy in Foxborough. The ‘Cats have not played many close games this season, and they lost the only two that really mattered.

After Johns Hopkins made it 15-14 in the fourth, Northwestern battened down the hatches and put together perhaps its best stretch of defense of the season. Those nine minutes will push the ‘Cats further than any blowout win.