Save the wins for May.
There are two kinds of disappointing losses. There is the kind of disappointment that feels hopeless. It follows an inevitable loss. It’s the kind of poor performance that is expected, but a sliver of hope suggests the outcome could be different. There is also the kind of disappointment defined by “almost.” Almost beating them. Almost hanging on. Almost coming back.
Northwestern’s 15-12 loss to North Carolina is the latter kind. The No. 3 team in the country did not become the No. 2, but the ‘Cats hung in there and showed that they could win — if a few more shots found the back of the net, if they started out faster, if they limited some turnovers, if not this time.
The three-goal deficit fails to reflect Northwestern’s two-goal lead at the half, winning the draw control battle 16-13 or a near-perfect second quarter. It does reflect, however, the offense stalling out in the second half, but NU gave every indication until then that it would win.
Madison Taylor scored the game’s first goal, right after Sam Smith claimed the opening draw. A point in the first 40 seconds was a promising sign for a team whose biggest challenge is figuring out how to get Taylor going against defenses trying to lock her away. Yet after that start, Northwestern surrendered the subsequent five draw controls, which resulted in four North Carolina goals. Chloe Humphrey notched two goals, while her sister Ashley assisted three of the four, and Kate Levy and Caroline Godine each notched one.
With the Tar Heels ahead 4-1, the ‘Cats began to feel the pressure, and rather than succumb to the team said to be Boston College’s greatest challenger, they stepped up.
Jane Hansen picked up a loose ball from North Carolina, allowing Emerson Bohlig to find the goal. Before the frame ended, Kiley Mottice and Smith each added a goal for their respective teams to make it 5-3 North Carolina, though Northwestern managed to grab the last three draw controls.
The Wildcats continued to take control of the game. They won the first five draws of the second quarter and put up five straight goals, with two each from Bohlig and Taylor and one from Taylor Lapointe. The home team’s dominance fell just near of perfect toward the end of the frame. North Carolina grabbed its first and only draw control in the final minutes, and after a series of turnovers, Olivia Vergano scored with just a second left to cut NU’s lead to 8-6. The goal was the Tar Heels’ first in over 20 minutes.
The second quarter was everything you could realistically want from a team. Northwestern was tough on defense. It successfully closed off the Humphrey sisters to weaken the attack, and goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer recorded two saves off three shots on goal and caused a Chloe Humphrey turnover. The Wildcat offense was playing efficiently too, as it carefully maximized possession of the ball. Although both teams finished the first half with 18 shots and 11 on goal, the Tar Heels only saved three of the ‘Cats’ shots on goal, while Sweitzer stopped five.
The second half was a different story. One that overshadows the grit and smart lacrosse that defined Northwestern in the first.
Sammy White grabbed the opening draw in the third quarter, but that was Northwestern’s only win inside the circle for the frame. The Tar Heels did to the ‘Cats what had just been done to them. North Carolina held Northwestern scoreless and only allowed three shots on goal, while it scored five goals to retake the lead at 11-8.
Unlike the previous quarters had suggested, control did not alternate between teams in the fourth quarter to allow Northwestern to crawl back in front. The ‘Cats did post an effort, showing a glimpse of their comeback gene that often shines in these moments, but their four goals did little to change the outcome, given the Tar Heels were playing just as strongly.
The Tar Heels scored the first two goals of the quarter, despite the Wildcats winning the corresponding draw controls, before Bohlig finally scored at the 9:41 mark for NU’s first point of the half. Niki Miles scored on the next possession to bring Northwestern within three at 13-10, but the damage was done. Abby LoCascio and Miles would each add another, but the Tar Heels scored just as many to secure the 14-12 victory.
The loss glues Northwestern in at No. 3 in the national rankings and leaves North Carolina with the momentum to become the top team when it faces the also undefeated Boston College on April 5.
The Wildcat offense did not quite keep up the pace it needed. It started off too slow in the first quarter and was nonexistent in the third quarter. But that second quarter shows what Northwestern can do. This was not a one-goal game, and this loss showed the offense needs more than just Taylor and Bohlig carrying the weight, but that should not erase the fact that the ‘Cats were relatively on par with the Tar Heels.
In the fourth quarter, after Northwestern was manhandled for a full 15 minutes in the third, the ‘Cats scored as many goals as the Heels and put up four shots on goal in comparison to their five. Northwestern also won the draw control in the last frame 6-2, though this possession only directly led to a NU goal twice. A victory over a top team would have been a chance to disrupt the top three, but the top three is still the top three. The Wildcats may need to work to compete with the UNC and BC offensive pace, but they are still right there.
The ‘Cats will have to make do with two home losses at the hands of the Eagles and Tar Heels, but better now than in May.