Rapid Reaction: Northwestern pulls away from Florida 15-11, advances to national championship

On an afternoon with stifling heat and even more stifling defense, Northwestern’s top-end talent had just enough in the tank. The Wildcats’ second-ranked scoring offense battled through tough defense, a rain delay, and oppressive heat to dominate the fourth quarter against Florida. The Gators’ top-ranked scoring offense was held to just 11 goals, and Northwestern scored eight goals in the second half to seal a 15-11 victory.

Madison Taylor led the way offensively with five goals, and Izzy Scane was her usual brilliant self with four goals and one assist. Defensively, Carleigh Mahoney menaced Florida all afternoon, with four caused turnovers and four ground balls. Samantha Smith was brilliant in the draw circle with eight draw controls, and also added a goal of her own. Lindsey Frank had a hat trick as well, and Molly Laliberty put up a typically excellent postseason performance with 10 saves.

As for the Gators, their superstars proved as good as advertised. Maggi Hall finished with five goals, and Danielle Pavinelli added three goals and two assists. On defense, Theresa Bragg had four caused turnovers and three ground balls, and Madison Waters added four ground balls and three draw controls. Elyse Finnelle was solid in goal with eight saves but was pulled in the fourth quarter after giving up 13 goals. Florida lost the draw circle battle 17-11, and couldn’t quite match the Wildcats’ offensive pace, tallying just 21 shots on goal to NU’s 25.

Northwestern opened the action strong, but couldn’t crack the Gators’ defense early. Izzy Scane earned two free position shots in the game’s first three minutes, but Elyse Finnelle denied her both times. Florida would quickly capitalize, with Danielle Pavinelli slicing through the fan to give the underdogs the lead less than four minutes in.

After turnovers from both squads, Lindsey Frank earned a free position of her own, and she was able to beat Finnelle near post to knot up the score. Three minutes later, Florida earned its first free position of the afternoon, and Maggi Hall ripped a shot past Laliberty to give the Gators a 2-1 lead back with 10 minutes gone by.

Finnelle continued to dominate defensively, swallowing up a Madison Taylor shot for her fourth save of the opening frame. After a Florida giveaway, Northwestern desperately sought to equalize. The Wildcats were finally able to do so when Samantha Smith snaked through the defense and beat Finnelle low to knot the game at two goals apiece. The Gators nearly answered back, but the officials ruled that Gianna Monaco’s rush of the goal was too aggressive and awarded her a yellow card.

With Florida’s #27 off the field, Northwestern’s #27 was able to take advantage. Scane attacked from the baseline and beat Finnelle with a rocket to the top corner, giving Northwestern its first lead of the game. A Laliberty save with five seconds remaining ensured the first frame would end with the Wildcats holding a 3-2 lead. Despite the draw control battle being dead even and Finnelle having three more saves than Laliberty, Northwestern was still on top.

It wouldn’t take long for the Gators to erase the one-goal deficit. After another Laliberty save, Pavinelli was able to poke the ball away from behind, and she quickly dished it to Ashley Gonzalez to even things up again. But the Wildcats’ offense had found its footing, and Taylor was able to get on the board with a beautiful solo attack and finish less than a minute later. Another Laliberty save a few possessions later continued to paint the momentum purple.

Taylor continued that process with a lefty flick past Finnelle to double the lead. With 9:13 left in the first half, Northwestern had its largest lead of the game with a 5-3 advantage. The lead only lasted for about two minutes, as the Gators’ Madison Waters finished a bouncer from the top of the fan roughly halfway through the quarter. The assist was once again from Pavinelli, making her third point of the game and 300th of her career.

The scoring only continued to erupt from there. Scane quickly added her second goal of the day, but Hall’s second free-position shot was just as fruitful as the first. After scoring just five goals in the entire first quarter, the teams had combined for six in just over nine minutes of the second. And that tally increased further when Hall earned herself a hat trick after a high-speed attack from behind the goal to draw the game even at six goals apiece.

Scane would join the hat trick club just over 30 seconds later, giving Northwestern the lead back with just over four minutes to play in the first half. After Northwestern won the ensuing draw, Florida’s Hannah Heller was shown a yellow card, giving an already scorching offense yet another advantage. But the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize, with Mary Schumar throwing a pass right to the Gators’ Kaitlyn Davies. Unfortunately for Northwestern, the sloppy stretch continued after another Laliberty save, with the Wildcats committing their sixth turnover of the second frame on the ensuing possession.

Luckily for Northwestern, Florida couldn’t take advantage before the halftime buzzer sounded. The Wildcats went into the locker rooms holding a 7-6 lead thanks partially to a 9-6 advantage in draw controls, as well as five combined goals from Taylor and Scane. But the Gators led both the ground ball and turnover battles 8-6, and Finnelle was excellent between the pipes with five saves. With Hall and the Gators’ dangerous offense holding possession to start the second frame thanks to a yellow card on Hansen, the game was still waiting for either team to control it.

The Gators would be the first to score in the second half. Monaco got on the board 30 seconds after halftime ended, but Taylor would respond two minutes later, joining the hat trick club with Scane and Hall. The superstar sophomore continued to put her stamp on the second half, firing a shot over Finnelle’s left shoulder to push the lead back to two. But Hall had no intention of letting her scoring be outdone. She easily converted her third free position look of the day with a fantastic hesitation juke move, trimming the lead to a single goal once more.

But Florida wasn’t done there, as Pavinelli converted another free position to tie things up. The Gators were right back in it, but in a game with such quick reversals of fortune, they wouldn’t stay tied for long. Frank earned her second goal of the day to put the Wildcats up 10-9, and Laliberty kept the lead alive with a tremendous kick save a few Florida possessions later. But sloppiness had begun to consume both squads. Scane had Coykendall wide open in the center of the fan, but the pass hit Coykendall’s stick and fell harmlessly to the turf. The Gators responded with another turnover of their own.

After a yellow card on Hannah Heller, the Wildcats elected to take their slim lead into the fourth frame. Despite no scoring from either side for the final seven minutes of the third quarter, there had been plenty of unfulfilled opportunities. As if that wasn’t enough, the almost certain classic fourth quarter was temporarily delayed due to severe weather over Cary. With just 15 minutes to determine a national title berth, the two teams would have to return to their locker rooms for an undetermined amount of time.

Nearly an hour after the third quarter ended, the fourth quarter finally began. Despite a strong showing in the draw control circle through three frames (the Wildcats held a 13-8 advantage), the game was still within a goal thanks mainly to Northwestern’s turnover issues. NU committed 11 turnovers in the second and third frames, while Florida committed just five in that same timespan. Luckily, NU caught fire in the fourth frame, with Dylan Amonte converting a free position opportunity just 35 seconds after play resumed.

That free position trend would continue less than a minute later, when Frank added one of her own to give herself a hat trick for the afternoon. The momentum was stymied slightly after Amonte was given a yellow card, but the Gators were unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The Wildcats, meanwhile, continued pressing their foot firmly to the accelerator, and an impossible sidearm shot by Coykendall from the edge of the fan extended the lead to 13-9. The four-point lead was the team’s largest of the game, and Northwestern’s four straight goals had put the nation’s No. 1 overall seed firmly in control with just 8:46 to play.

And the good times kept on rolling from there. Taylor added her fifth goal of the game against Florida’s backup goalkeeper Georgia Hoey, though Pavinelli was able to respond quickly with the Gators’ fifth free position goal of the afternoon. Northwestern, though, simply had more in the tank, as evidenced by Scane’s fourth goal of the affair just two minutes later. Hall was able to add yet another goal, but even that score only cut the lead to four with just four and a half minutes on the clock.

The Wildcats controlled possession for basically the rest of the game, helped along by a pair of Florida players receiving cards. Northwestern wasn’t able to add another goal, but the team didn’t need to. The Wildcats had proven their mettle, fighting through harsh weather, an even harsher Florida defense, and an hourlong delay to get Kelly Amonte Hiller’s 54th NCAA tournament win.

Northwestern will take on either Boston College or Syracuse on Sunday at 11 a.m. central time as the program looks for its ninth national title.