Lacrosse: No. 3 Northwestern pummels No. 4 Johns Hopkins 18-5 to take control of the Big Ten

Madison Taylor and Co. continue to dominate in conference.

No. 3 Northwestern (10-2, 4-0 B1G) is in prime position to win its third consecutive Big Ten regular season title after an emphatic 18-5 win over No. 4 Johns Hopkins (9-3, 3-1 B1G) at Homewood Field in Baltimore on Thursday night.

In a matchup that featured the Big Ten’s two leading scorers in Northwestern’s Madison Taylor (59) and Johns Hopkins’ Ashley Mackin (54), Taylor staked her claim as the best offensive player in the conference — and the country — with four goals and four assists to lead her ‘Cats to a 13-goal victory.

The stifling Northwestern defense limited Mackin to just one goal on five shots and held the Bluejays scoreless in the second half. Coming into last night, Johns Hopkins was the second ranked offense in the conference behind Northwestern, averaging 14.2 goals per game.

Behind Taylor, Lucy Munro and Taylor Lapointe scored three goals apiece for Northwestern. Niki Miles and Emerson Bohlig netted two of their own, and Miles added three assists as well to cap a five-point performance, tying her career high in purple.

Sam Smith dominated the draw circle for her second consecutive game after struggling in Northwestern’s loss to No. 2 North Carolina. The senior midfielder earned 12 draw controls as Northwestern won the battle in the circle 19-7.

The win puts Northwestern firmly in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten with four games to play as the ‘Cats can now likely win the regular season title with one loss in the conference. Though it’s hard to imagine coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s squad having any trouble down the stretch, as Northwestern’s has already beaten the two best teams in the Big Ten in Johns Hopkins and Maryland — and done so by an average margin of 12.5 goals.

If anything, Thursday night showed a massive gulf between the top three — No. 3 Northwestern, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 1 Boston College — and the rest. As Inside NU’s Yanyan Li noted, the third-ranked ‘Cats have had no trouble warding off ranked challengers not named Boston College or North Carolina, racking up decisive wins over No. 6 Syracuse, No. 8 Maryland and now No. 4 Johns Hopkins.

The Bluejays actually opened the scoring in Baltimore behind a goal from Mackin, but Northwestern took just 32 seconds to answer back as Taylor finished off an excellent entry pass from Miles to tie the game at 1-1.

It was all ‘Cats from there. Northwestern scored the next five goals — with Taylor either scoring or assisting on four of them — to surge to a 6-1 lead with 6:52 to play in the first quarter. Goal No. 6, a mean backhanded strike from Lapointe, should come with a warning label. Swarmed by two Bluejay defenders about six meters from the goal, the sophomore, let one rip behind her right shoulder and sat Johns Hopkins goalie Giardina Morgan on the floor with a rocket to the bottom right corner. Viewer discretion is advised.

Johns Hopkins got two back before the end of the period to make it 6-3 Northwestern going into the second.

The ‘Cats kept their foot on the gas in period two, as goals from Lapointe, Abby LoCascio, and Lucy Munro extended the Northwestern lead to six. Johns Hopkins’ Charlotte Smith made it 9-4 with seven to play in the period, but the ‘Cats would score the next five.

Taylor activated takeover for the second time of the game, scoring two and adding one assist in the 5-0 run to bring her point tally to eight(!!!) in just the first half. Ava Angello made the halftime score a little more respectable for her Bluejays with a goal at the buzzer, but this one was still all but over after 30 minutes. 14-5 ‘Cats at the half.

Northwestern battened down the hatches in half two, not allowing another goal on the way to a statement 18-5 victory over the only remaining undefeated side in the Big Ten. Redshirt sophomore goalie Francesca Argentieri was excellent in mop-up work in the fourth period, stopping five shots in just as many minutes to preserve the second-half shutout.

Northwestern will stay in the East Coast over the weekend to face Rutgers (8-5, 2-2 B1G) in Piscataway, NJ. on Sunday, before returning to Evanston for a two-game home stand against Oregon (5-7, 0-5 B1G) and No. 18 Michigan (8-4, 2-2 B1G) at Martin Stadium.