by Ari Levin

Northwestern scored a huge victory over a great Syracuse team on Monday. The Wildcats recovered from an early deficit and bested the Orange by a score of 14-10.

The Northwestern Wildcats (7-3) dominated the action after falling behind early to get the win over the Syracuse Orange (6-4). A new IWLCA coaches poll released right before the game put Northwestern at #11 and Syracuse at #12, and the Wildcats justified superior higher ranking.

Early on, things looked rough for Northwestern. The Wildcats won the initial draw control but turned the ball over leading to a Syracuse goal. Syracuse scored the first three goals, and Northwestern committed six turnovers while remaining scoreless for the first twelve minutes.

Northwestern trimmed the deficit to 4-2 later in the first half, and then fired off three straight goals in the final four minutes before halftime to take the lead. Sheila Nesselbush scored off a free position shot with just nine seconds remaining in the half to put Northwestern ahead 5-4.

Syracuse tied the game early in the second half, but Northwestern then scored five straight goals to expand the lead to 10-5 in the first 15 minutes of the final period. Nesselbush earned a hat trick on a wild sequence where the ball was kicked around and ultimately rolled into the goal, with the senior credited for the goal. She finished with 6 points for the day, with five goals and an assist. Selena Lasota scored three goals during that run for her own hat trick.

In goal for Northwestern, Julie Krupnick helped Northwestern stay in the game early and played great throughout the game. The Redshirt First-Year tied a career-high with 12 saves in the game to just ten goals allowed.

This marks the Wildcats’ third win over ranked opposition this season, with the others coming over #15 Colorado and #16 USC. Northwestern sits a half game back of Penn State in the Big Ten standings at 1-0 after Friday’s dominant win over Michigan. The Wildcats return to Big Ten play on Friday against #23 Johns Hopkins.