It was smooth sailing on a blustery Lake Michigan day.
Like a hot knife through butter.
On a windy afternoon in Evanston, No. 2 Northwestern (20-1, 9-1 B1G) dominated Miami (OH) (14-8, 7-1 MAC) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Second-year stars Ilse Tromp and Olivia Bent-Cole both scored two goals, while sophomore forward Ashley Sessa scored one and chipped in three assists. The ‘Cats took a whopping 30 shots compared to the RedHawks’ eight en route to a dominant 9-2 victory.
The ‘Cats pushed on offense early, drawing their first penalty corner just over a minute into action. NU had a great look, but RedHawks midfielder Kylie Coughlin got low for a wildly impressive defensive save. Just a minute later, another corner yielded a goal from Sessa, her 22nd goal on the season. Miami left her alone, and she made the visitors pay.
With 11:30 to go in the quarter, Sessa aimed a shot at the right post, but the ball sailed just wide. The RedHawks pushed the action toward graduate goalkeeper Skubisz a few minutes later and drew their first corner of the game. The ‘Cats deflected the shot and sprinted across the field, pushing until first-year middie Laura Salamanca tapped it in to put NU up 2-0.
NU continued to dominate possession time, drawing its third corner with six minutes remaining in the quarter. Sessa inserted to Tromp, who fired her signature drag flick past junior goalie Nicky Sjouken for the purple-and-white’s third goal on the game. In the last minute of action, both midfielders Greta Hinke and Lauren Wadas took shots off corners, but neither could find the net. The ‘Cats finished the first quarter having fired a whopping 12 shots.
The second quarter started quietly until the RedHawks threatened the circle with four minutes elapsed. Junior midfielder Paula Navarro fired a shot but Skubisz went spread eagle for the save. On the other end, the ‘Cats aggressively pushed and set up graduate midfielder Chloe Relford to go up 4-0.
With 5:50 remaining in the half, the ‘Cats drew their sixth penalty corner of the day. It was déjà vu all over again, as Tromp fired another drag flick past Sjouken to inflate the lead to five. The RedHawks briefly threatened the circle soon after, but NU’s defense quickly evacuated the ball from harm. Another corner for the ‘Cats was unsuccessful as Hinke fired a shot into Sjouken’s leg guard.
NU closed the first 30 minutes of action having taken an astounding 19 shots, while Miami had just two. The first half was fast-paced yet clean, as neither team was shown a card of any sort. Skubisz finished the half with one save, while Sjouken recorded seven as she scrambled to stop NU’s blistering pace of attack.
The ‘Cats picked up where they left off to start the second half. Two minutes in, graduate midfielder Katie Jones tapped a pass to senior forward Lane Herbert to put NU up 6-0. Less than a minute later, senior middie Maddie Zimmer set up Bent-Cole for yet another goal to increase the lead to seven.
With 10:51 to go in the quarter, NU drew its eighth corner. Jones inserted the ball to junior back Maja Zivojnovic, whose confident missile into the net didn’t count because it was too high. The RedHawks got a rare opportunity with their second corner a minute later. Graduate midfielder Claudia Negrete Garcia fired a drag flick past Skubisz for Miami’s first goal on the day.
The RedHawks continued to build momentum after Jones was shown a green card with seven minutes remaining in the quarter. However, that woman-up advantage didn’t make too much of a difference, as the ‘Cats drew another penalty corner. Wadas teed up the shot for Zivojnovic, but she couldn’t fire it past Sjouken.
With just over five minutes left in the quarter, Garcia recorded her second goal of the game with a baseline flick, cutting NU’s lead to 7-2. The ‘Cats broke away with a minute left, as Sessa set up Bent-Cole for a diving goal to put NU back up by six.
NU started the final quarter of action with its tenth corner of the game. Sessa inserted to Wadas, who couldn’t direct her shot inside the left post. With eight minutes left, Herbert fired a shot headed for the top-right corner, but it sailed just wide. The RedHawks drew their third corner with two minutes remaining but couldn’t capitalize as Skubisz deflected the shot. The ‘Cats iced the game with just over a minute to go, as Herbert scored her second goal to put the purple-and-white up 9-2.
In total, Northwestern took 30 shots, 19 of which were on goal. The Wildcats also tallied 10 penalty corners compared to just three for Miami. Northwestern’s next game will be Sunday at 12 p.m. CT against the winner of Michigan (who beat the Wildcats to take the Big Ten Tournament title) and Virginia. Should they win that, they’ll move on to the NCAA semifinals.