NU Lax can’t overcome #2 Maryland

Northwestern was riding a five game winning streak into Martin Stadium and a chance to knock off undefeated Maryland. The ‘Cats had plenty of momentum, defeating three straight ranked opponents before taking on the Terrapins. The Wildcats (9-4, 3-1) weren’t able to claim their first victory against Maryland (15-0, 5-0) in seven years, but they gave the Terps just about all they could handle.

Within seven minutes, Northwestern found the first three goals of the game. They stayed hot, with goals from Selena Lasota, Lauren Gilbert, Emily Stein, and Izzy Scane allowing NU to race out to a 7-4 lead. The two teams battled throughout the rest of the half, but Maryland was able to tie it up entering the break.

With the game tied at 12 and 12:28 to go in the second half, it was moved into Ryan Fieldhouse due to the inclement weather. After the change of venue, Maryland raced to the finish line. The Terrapins used their dominant defense, backed by the best goalie in the country in Megan Taylor, to pull away down the stretch and defeat NU 17-13.

Lasota led the team with six goals on the game, bringing her total on the season to 50. Scane notched a hat trick after earning her fourth consecutive Big Ten freshman of the week award a couple of days prior.

While Northwestern does have some quality wins on the season, this marks, astoundingly, its fourth loss to teams ranked in the top five. The sixth-ranked ‘Cats fell to Boston College, Syracuse and North Carolina earlier in the season.

The team’s regular season concludes with tough tests against two more top ten teams (yes, their schedule is incredibly stacked) in Michigan and Notre Dame, before the finale against Ohio State.