Hello, I’m Brendan Preisman. It’s time for your NU Sports Report for the week.
SOFTBALL
The women’s softball team continued their unbeaten streak in Big Ten series by defeating Michigan last weekend. While the ‘Cats didn’t win all three games, they were able to take both the opening and closing games of the series to seal a 15-2 conference record and move to 30-10 overall.
The first game of the series was a defensive struggle. Despite home runs early on from Angela Zedak and Kansas Robinson, Northwestern couldn’t pull away. A 2-run 5th inning from the Wolverines resulted in the game being sent to extra innings, adding even more dramatics to the proceedings. In the 10th inning, Nikki Cuchran singled to right, scoring a run, but Michigan would match it in their half of the 10th. A Jordyn Rudd single on her first hit of the game resulted in a 4-3 lead, which Lauren Boyd would help the ‘Cats hold on to. She closed the game with a strikeout, earning a 4-3 Wildcat win.
The second game was much less fun for Northwestern. Michigan’s defense remained staunch, but Northwestern’s completely collapsed. The Wildcats finished the game with 1 hit. The Wolverines had 13. The game was blown wide open in the third inning, when Cami Henry and Sydney Supple combined to give up 12 runs on two home runs, 3 walks, and 4 singles. The game ended with a score of 15-0, and it wasn’t even really that close.
Northwestern needed a strong bounce back in the third game, especially from their pitchers. They got it with Boyd and Danielle Williams. The two combined to allow just 6 hits and no runs, completely reversing the trend from the prior game. However, the offense still struggled, and the score remained deadlocked at 0 heading into the seventh and final inning. That was until Robinson and Rudd, who had been clutch hitters all series, woke up. A Robinson single and Rudd single combined to bring home three runs, which marked the final margin. This series was also the first time Northwestern softball beat Michigan in a series.
WOMEN’S GOLF
The women’s golf team finished second at the Big Ten championships last weekend. Despite opening the tournament with a round of +11 and sitting 9 strokes behind eventual winner Illinois, the Wildcats bounced back strong and finished just three strokes behind Illinois. Northwestern placed 4 players in the top 15, the most of any team. Jennifer Cai, Jieni Li, Lauryn Nguyen, and Kelly Sim were those four, and Sim finished in a tie for sixth. The main reason Illinois was able to win was because of Crystal Wang, who shot a 201 for the tournament and won by an astonishing 12 strokes. Northwestern was the best team by far on the long holes, shooting 44 over on par 4’s and 13 under on par 5’s. Both of those were tops in the tournament. Nguyen also had a great run on par 4’s individually, finishing 3rd in the tournament in par 4 scoring. The Wildcats, who were ranked 14th in the most recent poll, will look to bounce back at regionals, which are held May 8 through 10.
FENCING
The fencing team competed in the North American Cup, or NAC, from April 21 through April 23. The team recently finished seventh at the NCAA championships, and was looking to continue the hot streak. Karen Wang placed 21st in the Junior Women’s Epee, and also earned a tie for third in the Division 1 Women’s Epee. In Division 1 Women’s Sabre, Sky Miller earned the 33rd spot in a tough field of over 100 competitors. In team Sabre, behind Miller, Megumi Oishi, and Kailing Sathyanath, the Wildcats finished in a tie for third. However, team Epee was more disappointing, with the team only able to garner 6th place out of 11 competitors. However, considering both Wang and Oishi made All-American this year and that the team finished as a top 10 squad in the country, this was a very successful season.
LACROSSE
The women’s lacrosse team clinched their second-ever Big Ten title on Saturday. The current #1 team in the nation was sitting at No. 2 when they welcome #12 Maryland into Martin Stadium. The first period was very low-scoring, but Northwestern held a 4-2 lead behind some great solo goals from Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall. However, Maryland flipped a switch in the second quarter. They held the Wildcats scoreless and would have taken the lead if not for some incredible saves by Molly LaLiberty. Nevertheless, the teams went into the halftime break tied.
That was roughly when Madison Taylor and Hailey Rhatigan decided to take over. The duo combined for four of Northwestern’s five goals in the third frame, helping push the lead to 9-5. In the fourth quarter, Rhatigan continued her assault on the goal by pushing two more goals through. She had four goals, all in the second half, and when those combined with the four points from Coykendall, Northwestern was able to get a 13-6 win. The Wildcats will now have a bye week before beginning play in the Big Ten tournament two weekends from now. The win over Maryland pushed them to #1 not only in the conference, but in the country. Title number 8 may be on the way.
MEN’S GOLF
The men’s golf team finished second in the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate. They had no hope of beating Illinois, the third ranked team in the nation, on their own turf, but the ‘Cats held off the rest of the field to earn a second place finish by 9 strokes. Daniel Svard finished second in the tournament by just two strokes, and David Nyfjall finished 6th, 9 strokes behind Svard. However, the rest of the team had a rough tournament, with none of the other three golfers finishing in the top 28. The team will be back in action at the Big Ten tournament this weekend.
Photo credit to Northwestern Athletics (@NU_Sports) on Twitter.
