After a half decade at the pinnacle of women’s collegiate lacrosse, Northwestern’s dynasty has come to a halt.
It was a battle for the ages and a game that lacrosse fans have been looking forward to for the last few years: NU, the sport’s latest dynasty, against U. Maryland, the sport’s most historic program.
In the end, tradition triumphed in a battle between lacrosse’s titans Sunday, and top-seeded Maryland earned its 10th national championship and broke NU’s streak of five straight titles, knocking off the Cats, 13-11.
“(Kelly Amonte Hiller) built (NU) from the ground up, they’ve had so many outstanding seasons, they’ve been so fun to watch,” Maryland coach Cathy Reese said. “We knew that and were prepared for that coming in. But winning five national championships in this day is extremely impressive.”
Equally as impressive was the Cats’ streak of 23 straight postseason victories, the longest in NCAA history, which was also snapped.
Fans from across the state of Maryland came to root for the home-state Terrapins, while there was plenty of purple in the stands, as 9,782 fans packed Johnny Unitas Stadium to watch the back-and-forth affair. It was the largest crowd ever to watch a U.S. women’s lacrosse game.
Early on, it looked like the nation’s best offense, belonging to NU (20-2), would best the nation’s top defense, Maryland (22-1). The Cats raced out to an early 6-0 lead, and Terrapins fans feared that it would be a repeat of last season’s title game shellacking, a 21-7 NU win over North Carolina.
Sophomore attacker Shannon Smith and freshman midfielder Erin Fitzgerald took advantage of several holes in the Terrapins’ vaunted defense, each tallying two goals in the first 10 minutes. Senior Danielle Spencer and junior Brooke Matthews also notched scores after winding their way into the eight-meter arc. In nine and a half minutes, NU tallied one fewer goal than the Terrapins’ defense had allowed per game.
“It felt like every shot they were taking was going in,” Reese said. “We needed to make a change defensively to allow (goalie Brittany Dipper) to save the shots she’s good at saving.”
After the Cats raced out of the gate, Maryland (22-1) shut down NU’s attack. The turning point may have come with 12 minutes left in the half, when Dipper stopped a Fitzgerald free-position shot from straight on. After that, the sophomore netminder recorded four more saves to close out the half.
“If you go down the stretch and play teams like Maryland, you’re not going to put any team away in the first half, even if we’re up 15-0 in the first half,” Spencer said. “We started to get a little casual when we were up six (to) nothing, and they made us pay.”
After the Cats pushed their lead to 8-3 halfway through the opening stanza, Maryland’s attack kicked into high drive. The Terrapins ended the half on a 5-0 run, winning the final three draws and edging the Cats, 10-7, in faceoffs. Thanks to its rally, Maryland went into intermission with an 8-8 tie and newfound momentum.
The teams traded goals to open the second half, but the Cats never got closer than when they tied the game at 10 midway through the period.
Struggling to fight from behind and facing a physical opponent slowed NU’s offense, but matters weren’t made any easier when star attacker Katrina Dowd was sidelined for about eight minutes in the second half after she slammed to the ground while jumping for a loose ball.
“We could have gone harder, we could have done anything,” Dowd said. “The game went the way it did. They did what they had to do to win it, and that’s that.”
Dowd, NU’s leading scorer and a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist, returned to the game with 13 minutes left, but her left leg still appeared to affect her. The NCAA tournament’s all-time leading scorer with 45 goals was held to zero goals and one assist, making Sunday the only contest Dowd didn’t score in all year.
“We weren’t afraid to play (Dowd),” Maryland defender Brittany Post said. “We respect her as an attacker. She’s an amazing player, but we were not afraid at all.”
The Terrapins also let Spencer score only twice.
On the other side, Maryland’s balanced offensive attack bombarded sophomore goalie Brianne LoManto from all angles. Secondary scorers Sarah Mollison and Katie Schwarzmann each found the back of the net three times, while Tewaaraton Trophy finalists Caitlyn McFadden and Karri Ellen Johnson combined to bury five goals.
Still, the Cats seemed poised for a run when Spencer charged past a defender and beat Dipper inside the left post with seven minutes left. But the officials waved off the goal and called an offensive foul, even though Spencer didn’t appear to initiate contact on the play. The call may not have had a direct impact on the outcome, but it seemed like that was NU’s chance to make a late comeback. Had the goal counted, the game would have been tied at 11.
It seemed only fitting that the team with the longest streak of national titles (seven) topped the team on a path to beat its reign.
“What an amazing night for the Terrapins,” Reese said. “I’m so proud of this team, the heart and the fight they displayed were outstanding. They showed such great composure and such great poise.”