When you win so much, you forget how to lose.
Northwestern has played 1,200 minutes of field hockey this season, and it only spent 54 minutes and 31 seconds trailing.
The first 26 minutes and 16 seconds came against No. 16 Princeton on September 29, when the Wildcats roared back from a 0-1 deficit to claim a 3-2 victory. The Princeton matchup was the team’s first threat to a perfect season, but it responded by winning nine more games. Then, over a month later, the next 28 minutes and 15 seconds of trailing arrived. Those minutes happened on Sunday during the Big Ten tournament championship game against Michigan.
This time around, Northwestern had no answer to Alana Richardson’s third-quarter goal, and it walked off the field trophyless with a 19-match win streak snapped. Unlike what happened just under six weeks ago, it could not mount a comeback down 1-0.
For a fanbase constantly pulling hairs over the ineptitude of Northwestern’s football and basketball teams, the consistent dominance of the Northwestern field hockey and lacrosse teams may be taken for granted. Especially in the past two seasons, it felt like only a few ACC kryptonite teams could stop both Wildcat squads in the postseason as Big Ten championship trophies continued to rack up. But the reality is that even the best teams can have their head-scratching moments.
The final score may have been 1-0, but multiple moments led to Northwestern’s demise. First, it was when Ashley Sessa missed a penalty stroke 11:27 into the first quarter, which was perhaps the only time her team had an open look right in front of the goal. It’s hard to blame Sessa — Michigan freshman goalie Hala Silverstein just read the sophomore’s shot perfectly. However, the feeling of what could have been was going to linger.
NU’s offense just could not get going afterward. The 16 shots it took was not far off its average of 19 per game, but only four of those shots were on goal — an abysmal number, considering its season shots-on-goal percentage of 59.5%. Michigan was much more efficient, with five of its eight shots being on goal. Both teams took six penalty corners, but that number wasn’t enough for the Wildcats, who average nine corners per game and rely on them to overwhelm the opposing team’s defense.
Sessa, who has scored or assisted on exactly half of Northwestern’s goals this season, was held to just one shot not counting her penalty stroke. Sunday’s match was one of just three games this season where she did not notch a goal or an assist, with one of the other two games being NU’s regular season matchup against Michigan. The Wolverines clearly have the number of the Wildcats’ biggest offensive weapon, but unlike that regular season game, there wasn’t another big attacking presence that made up for the loss. So many of Northwestern’s possessions ended in a player getting close to the goal, but not having the space or time to make a good shot.
The final nail in the coffin came when Maddie Zimmer, who was setting up the offense from midfield to no avail, was taken out of the game due to a green card. With Northwestern a player down and its defense all out of sorts for maybe the first and only time this game, Michigan Olympian Abby Tamer passed a ball to Richardson, who got past the Wildcats’ last line of defense to score the game’s only goal.
Regardless of what other defensive stops Northwestern made — including four saves from goalie Annabel Skubisz — to prevent Michigan from extending its lead, that goal from Richardson was just enough for the Wolverines to seal the deal.
Yes, credit must be given where credit is due. The Wolverines, especially Tamer, played phenomenal defense, and Silverstein stepped up big time to make four saves (including a shot in the last minute of the game from Lauren Wadas, who scored the game-winning overtime goal off Silverstein in the regular season). They took on a team with the Big Ten Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year and held it scoreless.
As the Big Ten Network said, Michigan was on a revenge tour — the three teams it beat in the tournament were three teams that it lost to in the regular season.
That being said, it’s better to get a bad game out in the regular season than in the NCAA tournament, when one loss means the season is over. Northwestern still has its own revenge tour to commence, having lost the last two national title games to North Carolina. After losing on Sunday, the Wildcats will likely lose the No. 1 spot in the polls to UNC and head into the tournament as the second seed. Once again, they will have a chance to be the chasers and not the chased — including a potential quarterfinal game where NU could get its lick back against Michigan.
As head coach Tracey Fuchs always says, each part of the season is a new season of its own. Headed into the tournament, the Wildcats will reset, and the 19-match win streak, along with all the other accolades, will be behind the ‘Cats. All that will matter is taking things day by day.