Lacrosse: Northwestern starts the season with a bang

In their first game of the 2021 season, the Wildcats proved that they were looking to finish what they started last season with yet another high-scoring, dominant win. Northwestern (1-0) beat Ohio State (0-1) 23-7 on Sunday behind a remarkable performance from junior Izzy Scane along with senior Lauren Gilbert. Scane scored a career-high nine goals, matching the program record set by former Wildcat legend Selena Lasota. Gilbert tacked on six goals herself (matching her former career-high) and also grabbed eight draw controls. On defense, NU held Ohio State scoreless for all of the first half, during which goalkeeper Madison Doucette saved all five of the Buckeyes’ shots on goal.

It was only fitting that a new Wildcat was the first to score in this new and unusual season. Less than a minute into gameplay, first-year Leah Holmes kickstarted the offense with a goal. Not long after followed Scane and Gilbert. The duo tallied a combined thirteen goals before Ohio State scored.

It took until nearly seven minutes had passed in the second half for Ohio State to score, and at that point the ‘Cats led 18-0. Senior Jill Giradi, graduate transfer Sammy Mueller, sophomore Dylan Amonte and first-year Kendall Halpern all contributed to the 18-goal lead as well. 10 different Wildcats scored in total.

Led by Liza Hernandez, who had four goals and four draw controls, the Buckeyes’ effort just wasn’t enough to match the Wildcats.

Northwestern has some time off before it travels to Baltimore to play two games against Johns Hopkins on February 26 and 28.