On Feb. 9, Colorado opened its season on the road against Northwestern. Heading into the game, the Wildcats were considered heavy favorites. Buffaloes coach Ann Elliott Whidden, a six-time national champion with Northwestern lacrosse (three as a player, three as an assistant coach), guided her team to achieve the impossible — a 10-9 upset win against the No. 2-ranked team in the country. Not only was it an upset victory, but Colorado outscored Northwestern 4-1 in the fourth quarter without allowing
a goal in the last 9:17 and controlled the pace until the final whistle.
The Wildcats lost to the Buffaloes was at Ryan Fieldhouse — the place where Northwestern suffered its few losses this year. However, the ‘Cats are undefeated this season at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller has never lost any of the 37 NCAA Tournament games her Wildcats have played at home.
With all that being said, it should be a low scoring, defensive battle. Here are three keys for Northwestern to get revenge on Colorado and move on to its seventh-straight Final Four.
1. Limit turnovers
In 10 of the Buffaloes’ 19 games played this season, they have scored 10 or fewer goals. Of those 10, Colorado is 7-3, with those three losses being all of the team’s defeats this season. Obviously, the logical key could be a “don’t let them score in double figures,” but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Buffaloes have the best scoring defense in the country, and when they faced off with the Wildcats back in February, it showed. Colorado does more than just prevent teams from scoring — they win the turnover battle. The only time the Buffaloes lost the turnover battle was when they lost to Stony Brook on Feb. 26 (they had the same number of turnovers as Towson when they won that game, but it’s besides the point). Of the eight teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament, Northwestern turns the ball over the second-most, while Colorado the second-least. Asking for the Wildcats to win the turnover battle is a large feat, especially against the Buffaloes. At the very least, Northwestern should focus on controlling the tempo of the game, and with that, limiting turnovers to prevent Colorado from gaining momentum.
2. Shoot at will
Colorado hasn’t allowed 10 or more goals at all this season. This includes games against Northwestern, Stony Brook, Army, Michigan, Florida (twice), Jacksonville (twice) and Denver (twice). This Buffaloes defense is scary good, and goalkeeper Elena Oh has been a huge reason why. Even when opposing teams do manage to pierce through Colorado’s defense, Oh has been rock solid between the pipes, saving 46.3% of all shots she faces. For the regular season, 46.3% is a very good rate, which with the two Big 12 Tournament games and the two NCAA Tournament games Colorado has played, puts her at 24th-best in the country. There’s a caveat though. Oh has just 5.5 saves per game this season, which speaks more largely to the Buffaloes strong defense and ability to control the pace of the games they play. In simplest terms, Northwestern needs to shoot. Whether it’s a good look, a great look, an alright look or an awful look, the Wildcats need to put pressure on Oh if they want to prevent history from repeating itself.
3. Who’s going to step up?
When Northwestern lost to Colorado back in February, Madison Taylor didn’t get much support. She had six of the team’s nine goals along with two assists. Taylor was involved in eight of the nine goals the Wildcats scored against the Buffaloes. There’s no question regarding how talented she is, but not having much else to supplement arguably one of her better performances of the year is something that needs to change.
During the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern scored 18 total goals. Taylor contributed to seven of them, scoring three goals and adding four assists. In Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament, Taylor had eight of Northwestern’s 17 goals. Aditi Foster has been the biggest supporter of Taylor across these three games, as she totaled nine goals alongside Taylor’s 11. Against Colorado earlier in the season, Foster scored just once. Maddie Epke had a big performance against James Madison, where she scored once and had four assists. She struggled against the Buffaloes, but since then has really found her role with the Wildcats. In order for Northwestern to beat Colorado, it will take a full team effort, not just a heroic game from Taylor.
