Stick Season, Week Seven: Terrapin takedown

Northwestern recorded its most dominant win yet.

Welcome back to Stick Season! This week, we are recapping arguably Northwestern’s best win of the season, a blowout 16-4 victory against No. 4 Maryland.

The Northwestern-Maryland rivalry has produced several fun games in recent years (at least for Northwestern fans; Maryland fans? Not so much). Between the two teams having the most NCAA and Big Ten championships and coaches Kelly Amonte Hiller and Cathy Reese being teammates at Maryland for two seasons, it always feels like their competitions have some implication in the history books.

Northwestern’s 13-6 victory over Maryland to claim the overall 2023 Big Ten regular season title, played in 30-something-degree weather, was a classic. Watching that match as an incoming freshman returning from my prospective student’s tour spearheaded my desire to cover the Lake Show when I arrived in Evanston. Then there was the 2024 Wildcats’ 17-9 takedown against the then-No. 2 Terrapins in College Park, where Izzy Scane and Madison Taylor scored six goals apiece and handed Maryland its first Big Ten loss in Reese’s tenure.

But the Wildcats’ 16-4 beatdown of Maryland on Saturday was unlike any of their recent wins against the same team. Four goals are the fewest goals that the Terrapins have ever been held to in a match against NU, and their worst offensive output in any game since (drumroll please…) March 13, 2007.

Amonte Hiller, who usually steers away from conversations about the notoriety of opponents in interviews, said postgame that the NU-UMD matchup is one that her players get really excited about. That’s shown on the field in the past couple of seasons, especially so on Saturday.

Against the Terrapins, the Wildcats played an almost-perfect game. After they got off to an 8-1 start in the first quarter, I was worried that Northwestern was having its typical fast start just to let its opponent come back later in the game. That never happened, as it outscored Maryland every quarter, progressively extending its lead. Five players scored multiple goals and the defense held UMD to just 11 shots on goal. The only concern for Northwestern was losing the draw battle 14-9, but Maryland failed to capitalize so many times that it didn’t matter.

“In previous games, we’ve kind of had ebbs and flows throughout, and we wanted to be more consistent today,” Amonte Hiller said. “It wasn’t perfect, but nothing’s perfect. On the whole, I thought we did a pretty good job at it.”

After this win, I think it’s fair to say that Northwestern has the most momentum it’s had this season.

A long-awaited breakthrough

If you’ve followed any of our Northwestern lacrosse coverage from this season, you’re probably familiar with the persistent desire to see secondary scorers step up alongside Taylor. On Saturday, those wishes were finally granted.

Yes, Northwestern’s offense has previously stepped up without Taylor for a quarter or a half, as seen in the Syracuse and Penn State games. But in both those games, Taylor was still doing considerably more than any other attacker — she’d contribute a large share, while six or seven of her teammates would score one or two goals apiece.

Against Maryland though, it was different. That was the first game all season where Taylor wasn’t the leading goal scorer. Instead, graduate students Riley Campbell and Niki Miles led the charge. Campbell led all attackers with four goals and an assist, while Miles had three goals and two assists. These two single-handedly gave Northwestern a 4-0 start and scored or assisted on 75% of the team’s goals. More than ever, we saw why Amonte Hiller brought them onto the team as transfers — so the Wildcats could have multiple veterans lead the attack.

In addition to the grad transfers, senior Samantha Smith had her best offensive performance all season, nabbing a hat trick. Sophomore Taylor Lapointe recorded her second multi-goal game of the season. Northwestern was up 11-2 after the first half and Taylor didn’t have a single goal. Despite producing her lowest goal total of the season at two and shooting just 20%, Taylor still had arguably her best all-around game of the year. She had three assists, six ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Robyn Rooney, Taylor’s high school coach, told me in February about Taylor’s ability to play any position on the field. That showed on Saturday, as she contributed in so many ways beyond scoring.

It’s worth noting that Taylor suffered an apparent injury after she scored her second goal in the fourth quarter, where she landed on her knees after a shot. Big Ten Network’s broadcast showed her being attended to by trainers on a golf cart. There hasn’t been an official update on her and we won’t know her status until Thursday.

Northwestern’s offensive output on Saturday was a huge step in the right direction. If Campbell and Miles consistently put up four to five points per game in Big Ten competition, it could go a long way.

Total lockdown

While there have been concerns about Northwestern’s offensive consistency, its defense has been phenomenal in big-game situations. The Lake Show zone coverage gave Syracuse a hard time, contributing to its 5-1 start against the Orange. Even against Boston College, NU forced its opponents to rely on secondary options, holding the Golden Eagle star trio of Emma LoPinto, Mckenna Davis and Rachel Clark to four goals on 22.3% shooting.

Against Maryland, Northwestern allowed the lowest goal total against a top-ten opponent since May 19, 2022 and forced 21 turnovers. In a foul-heavy game, Maryland couldn’t finish its possessions because it was losing control of the ball, facing charge calls or the balls were landing in the stick of Northwestern goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer.

Per usual, graduate student Jane Hansen was phenomenal with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sweitzer is slowly returning to her 2023 IWLCA Goalkeeper of the Year form, tallying 11 saves on just four goals allowed — her second match with double-digit saves and an above 50% save percentage. But the standout defender on Saturday was first-year Mary Carroll, who picked up three ground balls and caused four turnovers.

“[Carroll] has been phenomenal all season,” Amonte Hiller said. “She doesn’t get a lot of attention for that she does…She’s so smart on the field and she really plays well off of our other defenders. She’s really gained a lot of confidence in communicating and really setting the tone.”

Carroll, who came to Northwestern as an unranked recruit, is the only freshman who has started every game. Her contributions throughout the season, including being the defensive star of the Wildcats’ most impressive win, display Amonte Hiller’s knack for player development. Evanston once turned Taylor from an unranked recruit into a Tewaaraton finalist, and former DIII goalie Molly Laliberty into a DI national championship team starter. If Carroll continues performing as she has been, she will be yet another addition to the list of Northwestern players reaching new heights in college.

As mentioned above, the only worry I have regarding Northwestern’s performance (aside from whether Taylor is healthy) is the draw circle. After not losing the draw battle for 12 consecutive games spanning parts of the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the Wildcats have now been beaten in the circle two straight times. Even when Smith was subbed out for Miles late in the game, it did not make a difference. It will be interesting to see if this is a recurring trend as the season progresses — if so, NU will lose a key advantage that it typically has over others.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week — Mary Carroll, first-year: In a game highlighted by how few goals the opposing team scored, Carroll takes the award as the top-performing Northwestern defender. For anyone keeping track of Stick Season history: she’s the first freshman to receive this mark.

Play of the Week: This incredible transition play where Sweitzer escapes trouble, handing the ball to graduate student Grace Fujinaga, who dishes it to senior Emerson Bohlig. Bohlig then sprints down the field and lets Campbell finish the job.

What’s Next?

We’ve been talking about this game for weeks now, and it’s finally here. Northwestern takes on undefeated No. 2 North Carolina at Ryan Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Thursday for a shot to regain that second spot in the polls.