Stick Season, Week Six: A B1G win

Conference play has begun.

It’s that time of the week again. In the sixth rendition of Stick Season, we’ll discuss the trials and tribulations of Northwestern’s conference opener, a 16-7 victory against Penn State.

When you follow a team as successful as Northwestern Lacrosse, you typically expect wins because that’s usually what the team produces. Because of that, it’s easy to fall into the habit of classifying the different types of wins that the team gets. Was it a dominant running clock win? Was it a close but good win against a top team? Was it an “ugly” win that was closer than anticipated, against a team you didn’t think would perform that well?

Immediately after Northwestern’s win against Penn State on Sunday, I tried categorizing its type. On one hand, the Wildcats never trailed and nearly won the match by double digits. But on the other hand, the Nittany Lions only took two fewer shots than them and won the draw battle by six. As much as it’s easy to celebrate NU picking up a conference victory, it’s also easy to question why it was pushed to the brim statistically by a team that’s currently 2-7.

But when I asked Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller postgame about how she’d categorize the win, she emphasized process over the results.

“Our main focus is not the scoreboard. Our focus is how we’re playing,” Amonte Hiller said. “Just evaluating our performance and trying to build on the things that are opportunities for growth and what we did well.”

That’s the story of the game. Northwestern will not be evaluated based on the implications of a win or how it performed compared to expectations. How the team fares in competition, especially in regular-season competition, says more about its general performance trends and what it needs to work on. For its match against Penn State in particular, there were a few standout patterns (more on those below) worth talking about not because they came against the Nittany Lions, but because they were things that could provide interesting learning experiences.

And as junior Madison Taylor emphasized postgame, the Big Ten is still a top conference in NCAA lacrosse and every team will show up. Penn State deserves credit for how it fought, especially on offense and in the draw circle. That’s enough with the general statements though — let’s get into the details of this match.

Capitalizing on opportunities

Northwestern took 31 shots compared to Penn State’s 29. Yet, the Wildcats won by nine goals. How did that happen? The answers are one, general efficiency, and two, performing better with eight-meter shots.

First off, the overall shot numbers don’t tell the full story. While 26 of Northwestern’s 31 shots (83.9%) were on goal, only 17 of Penn State’s 29 (58.6%) had the same fate. This was evident within the Nittany Lions’ possessions. They’d gain momentum through winning draw controls, but then ruin it by aiming way wide or way high, ensuring that there would be no comeback even when they outshot the ‘Cats 15-6 in the third quarter.

A big reason why Penn State got to take so many shots was because of its free-position chances late in the game. After Northwestern committed a whopping 28 fouls in the second half, PSU was awarded five free position shots in that same period, including three in the third quarter. However, it only went 2-for-6 on total free position attempts.

Meanwhile, Northwestern had a near-opposite outcome with its free position attempts, going 7-for-9. Much of that is because of Taylor, the team’s free-position connoisseur. Out of her six goals against Penn State, four were free-position attempts. She’s also just incredibly efficient in general, posting a 100% shooting percentage (she really took “you miss all the shots you don’t take” saying literally…), not counting her first-quarter free-position goal that got called for a crease violation.

It wasn’t just Taylor, as Freshman Hannah Rudolph, graduate student Riley Campbell and senior Emerson Bohlig also scored on free-position attempts. This difference in efficiency shows how emphasizing these types of shots during Northwestern’s practices can pay off.

“We work on [them] almost every single day in practice,” Taylor said of free-position shots. “When you practice a lot, you get a little muscle memory, and we were able to go out there and excel at it.”

Draw disparity

The statistic that uncharacteristically didn’t go in Northwestern’s favor was the draw, where Penn State beat the ‘Cats 16-10. Yes, NU went into the game leading the nation in draw controls per game and hadn’t lost a draw battle since May 2, 2024 (the 2024 Big Ten tournament semifinals against Johns Hopkins). But at the same time, Penn State is outdrawing its opponents 134-107 despite its win-loss record, so maybe its performance in the circle isn’t as shocking as it is on paper.

Credit goes to Penn State’s Erika Ho, who picked up 11 draw controls on her own in addition to three goals and an assist. For comparison, the player with the most draw controls on Northwestern was senior Samantha Smith, who had just four. But this discrepancy should teach Northwestern two things: How to adapt when losing the draw, and how to score without winning it.

Amonte Hiller said she made minor adjustments in the circle throughout the game, speaking to Smith about the draw control every time she came off the field. While I don’t know exactly what those adjustments are or when they were made, Northwestern’s draw-control wins did stop a Penn State three-goal run in the third quarter, so there’s that.

That said, I’m curious if Northwestern will try switching its draw-taker when it next struggles in the circle. As great as Smith is, players like graduate student Niki Miles and senior Serafina DeMunno also have draw-taking experience and could be briefly put in to throw opponents off. This worked well when the Wildcats played Maryland in the 2023 Big Ten tournament championship game, when putting DeMunno in for Smith halted a streak of Terrapin draw wins.

Northwestern winning despite struggling in the circle also shows how great its defense is. For example, while Penn State won the first-quarter draw battle 4-2, the Wildcats outshot it 9-3 because it committed 10 turnovers in the same timeframe. Part of the Nittany Lions’ offensive inefficiency also had much to do with the Northwestern defense. Graduate student Jane Hansen led the charge for NU on this front, recording four caused turnovers and two ground balls.

It’s good that the Wildcats could bounce back after losing in a category they usually excel in. But against better teams, it may not be as easy.

Weekly awards

Player of the week — Madison Taylor, junior attacker: At this point, let’s rename this award to the “Madison Taylor Award.” The junior posted a career-high nine points with six goals and three assists on perfect shooting, once again being the driving offensive force for Northwestern. She also swept the Big Ten and IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week awards, receiving the latter honor for the first time this season.

Honorable mention — Delaney Sweitzer, graduate student goalkeeper: Sweitzer also deserves a shoutout for her performance on Sunday, posting ten saves on a 58.8% save percentage, her first time this season recording double-digit saves. She was especially critical in the third quarter, recording six saves during Penn State’s offensive run.

Play of the week: Bohlig makes a spin move and gets a bounce shot underneath the goalie’s legs. Classic.

What’s next?

Northwestern will face a top-ten opponent again on Saturday, going up against No. 4 Maryland. This match will be its biggest challenge since facing Boston College on Feb. 15, as the Terrapins are on a six-game win streak and come off of beating No. 11 Michigan, another Big Ten contender, 14-12.

This upcoming match is also amongst women’s lacrosse’s most storied rivalries. Maryland is Amonte Hiller’s alma mater and it’s the only school with more national championships than Northwestern. Currently, the head-to-head is 11-9 in Maryland’s favor (though NU has won the last three matches). However, it is an even 4-4 in matches played in Evanston. If the Wildcats win on Saturday, they can gain a winning record against the Terrapins at home.