Northwestern got its revenge on No. 8-seeded Colorado in the NCAA Quarterfinals after losing back in February. The Wildcats and Buffaloes played arguably the best game of the tournament so far, but Johns Hopkins win over No. 5-seeded Stony Brook rivals it. Both quarterfinal matchups ended in favor of the home team, 13-12.
With 5:04 to go in the third quarter, the Seawolves took an 11-7 lead over the Blue Jays and looked to have all the momentum after scoring four-straight goals. That’s when Ava Angello
and Taylor Hoss took over for Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays went on two separate three-goal runs: first to make it 11-10, then to win 13-12 with an Isabella Caporuscio woman-up goal wedged in between.
On all six goals Johns Hopkins scored after being down 11-7, either Angello or Hoss contributed: both scored twice and Angello had a pair of assists while Hoss three.
Now rewind to earlier in the season, back to when Northwestern and Johns Hopkins played in Ryan Fieldhouse on March 29. The Wildcats were coming off an upset victory in overtime at then-No. 1 North Carolina, while the Blue Jays suffered a three-goal loss to Maryland. The first half was highly competitive, with Northwestern holding a 7-6 lead at halftime. The third quarter was the difference, though, as the Wildcats outscored the Blue Jays 5-2. Despite the fourth quarter reflecting the first half, Northwestern came out on top, 16-12.
Since then, Johns Hopkins is 8-1 with its only loss coming in overtime to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
However, the Wildcats remain the favorites in this game because of two factors: the Final Four being played at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium and Kelly Amonte Hiller’s incomprehensible 38-0 record at home in the NCAA Tournament. Nonetheless, it should be another competitive contest with raised stakes.
Here are three keys for Northwestern to make its fourth-straight national championship game.
1. Shoot at will (again)
Prior to last Thursday, Colorado hadn’t given up 10 goals all season.
Northwestern scored 10 in three quarters.
The Buffaloes have, arguably, the best zone defense in the country and the Wildcats were able to overcome it to will themselves to a double-overtime victory. Johns Hopkins on the other hand is allowing an average of 10.33 goals per game, which is the most of any team remaining in the NCAA Tournament.
Like I said for the game against Colorado, it’s imperative that Northwestern continues to fire at the net to put pressure on a goalie averaging (at the time) just 5.57 saves per game and saving just 38.6% of shots faced. The recipe for success for the Wildcats is to fire away, especially considering they scored 16 goals in 32 total shot attempts the last time they faced the Blue Jays.
2. Stay disciplined
Northwestern tends to be penalized a lot. The last time the Wildcats faced Johns Hopkins, they had seven green cards. SEVEN! Even though the Blue Jays didn’t score on any of their woman-up opportunities the last time these teams played, there’s a good chance that there will be at least one goal scored if they’re handed another seven on Friday.
Against Colorado in the quarterfinals, Northwestern committed eight total penalties (three being yellow cards). Six of them gave the Buffaloes scores: four while woman-up, two on free position.
Go back to when Northwestern lost to Ohio State 16-15, and four of the Buckeyes’ goals were in man-up situations. When the ‘Cats lost to Colorado, three of the Buffaloes’ 10 goals were in man-up situations. Too many goals allowed in these situations can mean the difference between a one-goal win and a one-goal loss.
All of these penalties are putting the Wildcats at a disadvantage, and it’s a matter of time before an opponent truly capitalizes on that in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Ball movement
When Johns Hopkins and Northwestern played in late March, Madison Taylor had six of the Wildcats’ 16 scores. The others? Maddie Epke went for five, Noel Cumberland twice plus Olivia Adamson, Taylor Lapointe and Annabel Child netted a goal each. Against Colorado, seven different players combined to score the 13 goals for Northwestern.
Taylor will almost certainly get hers, but moving the ball around to get more opportunities for other players should be a huge point of emphasis for Northwestern, especially when combined with my aforementioned “shoot at will” key.
Move the ball around, find a decent-to-good look, then shoot. Johns Hopkins’ defense is not on the same level as Colorado’s, so getting good looks should be a byproduct of moving the ball against a weaker defense.
