In a physical Big Ten game, Northwestern proved once again why they are the No. 3 women’s lacrosse team in the nation, outscoring USC 9-3 in the second half in a resounding 17-8 win on Sunday.
“We really try to focus on us as much as possible and keep rankings and favorites out of it,” said Northwestern sophomore midfielder Taylor Lapointe. “We really just try to grow as a team, grow our connections and prepare for this game by tweaking little things that may have given us the win before.”
The Wildcats went on a 4-0 run to open the game with junior attacker Madison Taylor scoring a hat trick in the first three goals.
With four minutes left in the first quarter, USC began to rally from the early deficit. Redshirt senior attacker Isabelle Vitale stepped up, altering her usually feed-heavy style of play to incorporate more dodging in an attempt to catch Northwestern off guard.
Freshman midfielder Kaylee Fravert tied the game for USC in the second quarter, but Northwestern then went on a 3-0 run, with graduate attacker Riley Campbell also scoring a hat trick.
Both the Wildcats and Trojans scored one more goal before the half, putting Northwestern up 8-5.
The Northwestern coaching staff questioned several calls against the team in the first half. The assistant coaches voiced their frustration with the referees at halftime to prevent additional fouls in the second.
Going into the second half Northwestern looked to focus more on “staying within ourselves and knowing that bad calls will happen, and just not letting that affect us because we can’t change it,” Lapointe said.
For the Trojans, senior Maddie Dora, Inside Lacrosse’s Midseason All-American, was unusually quiet on attack, scoring her first goal late into the second quarter.
The Trojans entered the second half with confidence, keeping Northwestern to a close game, as sophomore attacker Emma Bunting scored right out of the gate making the game 8-6, still in favor of Northwestern.
However, USC only scored twice more in the entirety of the second half, while Northwestern charged on scoring nine goals, leading them to a dominant victory.
“We just need to do a better job at putting together a full game to be able to keep up with teams in the third and fourth quarter,” Dora said. “I felt like our energy dipped as they went up a couple goals, and we lost sight of having that win and staying with them.”
Following the loss, USC is looking to regroup and work on maintaining momentum in the second half, beginning with minimizing eight-meter shots, as the Trojans gave up 10 free position shots where Northwestern scored off of seven. xfe
“It’s a discipline piece, they’re playing really fast, so the defense has to get there with their feet and make sure they’re not fouling,” USC head coach Lindsey Munday said. “There were some moments where we were just a little aggressive where we could’ve just let them make their own mistakes.”
Another key differentiator between the teams is that the Wildcats won 22 draw controls while the Trojans won just seven.
Going against Northwestern, a team that attacks and transitions at a high speed, made it crucial for USC to control the ball and make their possessions meaningful. The further Northwestern separated themselves, the lower the energy became on the USC bench.
“Going forward into Maryland, being able to hold possession is key and I think offensively we need to do a better job shooting,” Dora said. “Just putting together a complete game and knowing that we can beat the teams we play with.”
USC will need to clean up their game facing another ranked opponent, because 27 fouls, 16 turnovers, and three yellow cards allows dominant Big Ten programs to easily capitalize.
“We just need to do a better job of keeping up with every single play and believing we could beat them– because we could’ve,” Dora said.
The Trojans continue conference play Saturday, April 5, where they will face the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins at Dignity Health Sports Park, and it will be imperative they learn from the loss to Northwestern.