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After taking a tough loss to No. 2 UNC, No. 5 Northwestern was hungry for a victory at home against No. 6 Stony Brook.
The ‘Cats came out hot right from the start, jumping to an early 3-0 lead. The third goal was from Senior Elle Hansen, her first since returning from injury, and was cause for great team celebration.
The Seawolves eventually fought back, coming within one goal early in the second quarter, but the Wildcats countered with another off high-scoring run of their own. By halftime, it was 9-4 in favor of Northwestern, with Junior Erin Coykendall tallying a first-half hat trick.
The second half was even better for the ‘Cats’ offense, as they jumped out to a seven-goal lead against the nation’s 13th best offense in Stony Brook. Both teams did get into some foul trouble, but Northwestern was able to capitalize off of their free-position shots as a result.
Stony Brook did come within four goals by the end of the fourth quarter, finishing the game with two of its own, but Northwestern never trailed the entire match. Graduate Student Jill Girardi had another dominant appearance in the draw circle, finishing with 13 wins of her own, while Stony Brook as a team had only 12.
But what makes this game so impressive on the offensive end is that Northwestern had a staggering eight different ‘Cats recording at least one goal, and five of those had more than one. While Graduate Student Lauren Gilbert didn’t tally any, she recorded four assists and two draw controls to make her presence felt on the field.
Coykendall lead the way with four goals, and Dylan Amonte followed suit with her first hat trick of the season. The six other players who tallied goals were Hansen, Brennan Dwyer, Hannah Johnson, Carleigh Mahoney, Leah Holmes and Hunter Chadwick.
This game marked the end of Northwestern’s daunting non-conference schedule to open up the season, as the ‘Cats face their first Big Ten opponent in Ohio State on Saturday at home before hosting Dartmouth and then traveling to Ann Arbor.