A program record crowd. A historic 300th career goal. A sixth straight win over an opponent that never really threatened.
On paper, Saturday was a dream for No. 6 Northwestern. The 11-5 final against USC looked clean. The 5,805 fans at Lacrosse Day in Chicago went home happy.
But if you watched closely, you saw a team that knows it can play sharper. And honestly, that might be the most encouraging part of all.
Here are three succinct takeaways.
1. Jenika Cuocco and the defense are playing out of their minds.
Let’s start with the star of the show.
Jenika Cuocco in goal
continues to be everywhere. She made nine saves at an excellent 64.3 percent clip on the big stage on Saturday. She swallowed ground balls like they were nothing. She bookended her save count with two awesome stops for good measure, first denying Alex May from literal point-blank range and then making another acrobatic stop near the end of the fourth quarter.
She has now racked up 32 saves over her last three games, finally settling into an elite groove reminiscent of her career at Drexel that racked up countless awards.
The defense in front of her was just as good. Northwestern forced a season high 15 caused turnovers. Redshirt junior midfielder Jaylen Rosga and first year defender Reese Hansen each had three caused turnovers apiece. And while Hollis Mulry led the game with four TOs for USC, Northwestern’s collective pressure was relentless.
TLDR: USC went more than 25 minutes without scoring a single goal at the start of the game. That tells you all you need to know about NU’s defensive performance.
2. More history for Madison Taylor, but the offense as a whole has room to become increasingly dominant.
Madison Taylor reached yet another milestone, accomplishing a feat only one other player in program history has done.
She surpassed the 300 career goal mark.
The only other player to join her in such rarified air is Izzy Scane.
Taylor finished her Saturday afternoon with four goals and two assists, both game highs.
But the offense around her was uneven. Northwestern turned the ball over seven times in the fourth quarter alone. Free position shots went empty, or ever-so-slightly off-target, as was encapsulated by Annabel Child clanging a free position off the crossbar and Taylor herself hitting the post on another attempt.
That said, the first quarter and change was electric. Kate Ratanaproeska opened the scoring on a cut into the fan. Noel Cumberland charged past two defenders to make it 2-0. Aditi Foster added another. Two last-name (Madison) Taylor goals sandwiched a first-name Taylor (Lapointe) one.
But after that, the rhythm disappeared for long stretches.
The good news is that Northwestern still scored 11 goals, still won by a comfortable margin and still have one of the most talented offenses in the entire country. Having your main problem be that your loaded team has even MORE room to click? That’s a darn good problem to have; and a scary thought for the rest of the contending field.
3. The win was never in doubt. That matters.
Here is the most important takeaway.
USC never got closer than five goals after the first quarter. The game was never actually tense. That counts for something.
Northwestern has now won four straight. Its record sits at 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats handled a conference opponent in front of a massive crowd without ever truly breaking a sweat. The magnitude of the second annual “Lacrosse Day in Chicago” was appreciated
Yes, the turnovers need to be fixed. Yes, the free position shots need to fall. But this team has a defense that can carry it through rough offensive stretches.
And when the offense does click? Watch out. You saw it in the first quarter.
Kelly Amonte Hiller did not build this program to be complacent. The small speedbumps from Saturday are already in the rear-view mirror.
The real test comes Thursday at Maryland. The Terrapins are ranked No. 1. They will not let seven fourth quarter turnovers slide. But that is exactly the kind of game this team needs right now: a chance to prove that their sloppy offensive moments against USC were an exception, not of habit.
A chance to even-out the early-season hiccups once and for all.
A chance to build on an already insanely impressive win at North Carolina.
A chance to show what everyone around this program has already internalized.
This team is for real. This team is inevitable. This team will win.
