Going into Sunday, Northwestern women’s lacrosse had not lost back-to-back games since last April, and the Wildcats were determined to keep it that way.

Following a 16-5 beating from No. 1 Maryland, the Wildcats trumped No. 10 Louisville 12-10 at Lakeside Field Sunday afternoon. Northwestern got off to a slow start, trailing 3-1 early, but a surge late in the first half propelled the ‘Cats to victory.

Kaleigh Craig opened up the scoring for Northwestern, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead four minutes into the game. However, the Cardinals fired back quickly. Faye Brust scored three goals in less than three minutes to put Louisville on top 3-1 early.

Louisville owned the draw and the tempo for the first ten minutes. Then, Northwestern ratcheted up the intensity. Defensive pressure from NU forced a lot of turnovers, which led to an offensive explosion for the Wildcats late in the first half.

Northwestern went on a 6-0 run, scoring all six goals in a span of 6:30. It was an extremely spread out attack, with each of the six goals coming from a different Wildcat. And all of a sudden, NU led 7-3.

The Cardinals finished the half strong, but Selena Lasota scored off a free position shot 3 minutes before the break. The ‘Cats milked the last couple minutes in the half and went into halftime leading 8-4.

The draw control wasn’t as one-sided in the final 30 minutes. Selena Lasota entered the circle to challenge Kaylin Morissette, one of the nation’s best in the draw, and won the Wildcats several extra possessions.

Faye Brust was the first to find net in the second half, making it an 8-5 contest over six minutes into the final period. Northwestern would answer though. Corinne Wessels ripped the net at 17:32 on the clock, and Kara Mupo finished off her hat trick less than a minute later.

Northwestern concluded a 4-2 run with another goal from Mupo and a score from Lasota, her 34th of the season. The run pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 12-7 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Louisville didn’t go down easy though. The Cardinals fought back, going on a 3-0 run of their own. But Selena Lasota won a key ground ball following the ensuing draw control, Kelly Amonte Hiller called timeout and NU ran out the final minute of the contest.

The victory concludes a four-game home stretch for the Wildcats, during which they won three games to move to 6-3 on the season. Northwestern now travels to Ann Arbor, where they will play Michigan Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT.