Northwestern Storms Back in Fourth Quarter, Advances to National Championship

The 'Cats' offense hit a long mid-game lull, but they somehow pulled it out.

Northwestern Women's Lacrosse celebrates after Riley Campbell scores in the first quarter. | Photo: Northwestern Athletics

It was a rain game today at Gillette Stadium where No. 3 Northwestern took on No. 2 Boston College in the semi-final round of the NCAA Tournament. Behind a true team effort, Northwestern completed a fourth quarter comeback for the ages to down the Eagles 12-11 and advance to the finals.

The 'Cats got off to a good start in the opening minutes. Tewaaraton finalist Madison Taylor scored first, taking it coast to coast and ripping a shot into the net.

The 'Cats jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but BC's Tewaaraton finalist Rachel Clark responded late in the quarter with two straight goals. Northwestern led 4-3 heading into the second.

It was then that things started to go poorly for the Wildcat offense. Boston College was face guarding Taylor and finding tremendous success. While the superstar was able to assist on a couple goals early, she was noticeably struggling to create space.

Boston College rattled off three-straght goals towards the end of the second and led 7-6 heading into the break.

Out of halftime, the Wildcats had switched into a zone defense. It worked briefly, as the 'Cats were forcing turnovers and creating possessions. The only problem was, nobody could score.

BC took full advantage of the 'Cats' struggles on the offensive end, scoring four goals in the quarter to take a commanding 11-6 lead heading into the third. During the onslaught, NU switched back to man-to-man.

In the fourth, the Wildcats finally got their mojo back. Lucy Munro started the party with a goal on the power play before Taylor and Aditi Foster quickly got in on the action. All of the sudden, it was 11-9 with 8:43 remaining.

After Taylor hit pay-dirt again, her fourth and final goal of the contest, Riley Campbell tied the game with 7:21 remaining off a beautiful deke. The 'Cats had stormed all the way back, in large part due to an impressive stretch from Sam Smith in the draw circle, and held all the momentum.

Fittingly, it was Smith who scored to take the lead with just over five minutes remaining in the contest. From there, the 'Cats were able to close things out on the defensive end. Goalie Delaney Sweitzer, who had an up-and-down afternoon overall making eight saves, made a crucial point-blank stop at the buzzer to secure the victory.

Northwestern will now match up with No. 1 North Carolina on Sunday to go for its second National Championship in the past three seasons.