Down go the Wildcats.
No. 8 Notre Dame rode four goals from Jackie Wolak and three from Madison Ahern to earn the marquee win of the young season, downing defending champion No. 1 Northwestern 14-10 Friday evening at the Loftus Sports Center in South Bend.
Northwestern had won six of the previous seven matchups with Notre Dame and had not lost a game since Feb. 11, 2023, against Syracuse — a streak of 22 games.
Northwestern (1-1) entered the fourth quarter trailing 9-8, but sophomore Madison Taylor finished a feed from Erin Coykendall to tie the score with 11:57 left. Northwestern then took the lead after Molly Laliberty saved an Abby Maichin shot. Samantha Smith picked the ball up off the turf and moved the ball up the field to Taylor, who found Sammy White for a 10-9 lead with 9:52 left.
That’s when things stopped going Northwestern’s way.
Notre Dame closed the game on a five-goal run and won each of the final six draw controls. Northwestern last took a shot with 9:01 left, a Coykendall attempt that was blocked and led to Keelin Schlageter’s equalizer.
Wolak put Notre Dame (3-0) ahead after another Kelly Denes draw win. Then Ahern finished a free position and Wolak scored again to make it 13-10. Maichin put the game away with 1:31 left.
Notre Dame’s defense was in total control, limiting the potent Northwestern offense with two Tewaaraton Award finalists to 20 shots. Coykendall had two goals and two assists, and Izzy Scane had two goals and one assist.
The Wildcats also turned the ball over 21 times. A 20-8 draw edge completely tilted the field in Notre Dame’s favor.
