No. 4 Northwestern dropped its second game of the season Thursday, falling to No. 14 Syracuse 9-6 at Ryan Fieldhouse. The Wildcats opened with the night’s first goal but were outperformed the rest of the way.
NU showed flashes of life — pulling within one in the second quarter before the game fell out of its hands thanks to back-to-back goals to open the third. From there, the Wildcats couldn’t string together enough consistent offense to threaten the Orange down the stretch. Here are the three biggest
takeaways from the matchup.
Molly Guzik was unguardable
The sophomore midfielder was the story of the game, finishing the night with six of Syracuse’s nine goals — scoring nearly half of her 14-goal mark from her entire freshman season in just 60 minutes. Northwestern had no answer for her at any point of the game, as she came out the gates firing with the Orange’s first three goals in the first 6:14. Her dominance also compounded with some mistakes on the Wildcats’ end, with two of her goals of the night coming during player-up opportunities.
Madison Taylor was a ghost until it was too late
For a player who just set the NCAA single-season goals record last season with 109, a one-goal, four-turnover performance is difficult to comprehend for Taylor. The senior didn’t have a shot attempt in the first half and finally found the back of the net with 3:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and the game already decided. Syracuse clearly came in with a plan to neutralize NU’s most dangerous offensive weapon, and for 57 minutes on Thursday night, it worked to perfection.
The turnover battle quietly told the story of this game.
The Wildcats won the draw control battle 11-6, but 21 turnovers made that stat not matter very much. Time and again, the ‘Cats would generate a possession only to give it right back to the Orange before they could generate a meaningful look. And against a strong team like Syracuse, those miscues can cost NU the game just like they did last night.
