The chase for ring number nine begins in just over a week.
If the Big Ten Tournament is anything to go by, postseason lacrosse is going to look a whole lot different than the regular season for Northwestern lacrosse.
The ‘Cats beat Maryland and Johns Hopkins by 12 and 13 goals respectively during the regular season. Last weekend in College Park, Northwestern won both tournament games by just one.
I’m sure Northwestern would have liked to win the Big Ten with a running clock and a little less pins and needles, but that’s tournament lax for you. And I’m sure the ‘Cats, who were 0-2 against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Boston College in the regular season, will be hoping that it goes both ways.
Northwestern will need to play its absolute best lacrosse to get past the two best teams in the country. Here’s how the ‘Cats can conjure up some postseason magic and get it done:
Madison Taylor from the free position
Simply put, Northwestern cannot win if Taylor is as poor from eight-meters out as she was in the Big Ten Tournament. The Tewaaraton award favorite was 2-of-13 on free position opportunities on the weekend, and 0-for-6 in the title game against Maryland.
Granted, Johns Hopkins’ Morgan Giardina and Maryland’s JJ Suriano were EXCELLENT between the posts, and Taylor still tied Niki Miles for a team-high 8 points in College Park, but Northwestern’s best player must find a way to be more efficient. Three-time Tewaaraton winner Taylor Cummings seemed to diagnose her struggles pretty cleanly on Big Ten Network last Sunday, observing that Taylor was opening herself up to contact from the Maryland defense by opting not to take her shots from closer to the goal.
Cummings’ most biting critique was that Taylor seemed unwilling to adjust her strategy despite her low success rate from eight-meters. As Inside NU’s Yanyan Li wrote in her recap of the championship game, Taylor did eventually let one rip from distance — albeit not on a free position opportunity — to give Northwestern a 7-6 lead with under two minutes to play.
Hopkins and Maryland both tried to slow Taylor with their physicality in the inside. Taylor had five more free position opportunities in the two games in College Park than during any two-game stretch all season. Her previous season-high was six in Northwestern’s opening day win against Notre Dame. Boston College and North Carolina were not as physical when Northwestern saw them in the regular season — Taylor had three free position chances against the Tar Heels and just two against the Eagles.
Yet the tournament is a different beast. Those regular season matchups had a playoff feel to them, but there’s nothing like the real thing. Expect Taylor to take her fair share of hits inside the crease.
If Northwestern is going to have any shot at ring nine, its best player needs to make those free position chances count.
Contributions off the bench
With Taylor struggling and JJ Suriano channeling her best 2014 World Cup Tim Howard, Northwestern went without a goal for a 20-minute stretch in the second and third quarters against Maryland.
It was first-year Aditi Foster who broke the drought coming off the bench. Foster hadn’t scored a single goal in the Big Ten before head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller called her name last Sunday, and she scored two in Northwestern’s biggest game of the season.
The Wildcat stars were clearly feeling the effects of two Big Ten dogfights in three days, and the Northwestern second-unit stepped up big time. Aside from Foster, Noel Cumberland, Lauren Archer and Abby LoCascio all tallied points off the bench in the Big Ten Tournament, not to mention the crucial fourth quarter turnover caused by Alex Blake against Johns Hopkins.
Northwestern doesn’t beat Maryland without a strong showing from the bench, and the ‘Cats will need all the production they can get if they make it to Foxborough.
Specialist success
Northwestern wins games when defender Jane Hansen and midfielder Sam Smith excel at what they do best. That’s Hansen causing turnovers on the defensive end and Sam Smith winning the battle in the circle.
Hansen’s stick was violent and deadly in the Big Ten Tournament to the tune of five caused turnovers. Scoring droughts have not been a trend for Northwestern outside of the Maryland game and the loss to UNC in late March, but if the offense sputters out again with the season on the line, Hansen can be a Get Out of Jail Free Card.
Smith’s value has been well documented, and calling her a draw specialist is a vast oversimplification of her bag on offense, but there is perhaps no one skill that Northwestern relies on as heavily for success. Looking at potential tournament opponents not named Boston College or North Carolina, the Syracuse game flipped on Smith’s stick. Six straight draw control wins from Smith saw Northwestern keep the ball in the attacking half for the final eight minutes of third quarter. The ‘Cats built a four-goal lead with that sustained pressure that it would never relinquish. On the flip side, Northwestern’s struggles in the third quarter against UNC can be traced in part to a 5-1 deficit in the circle. This is Madison Taylor’s team, but Sam Smith might be Northwestern’s most important player.