Three takeaways from Northwestern lacrosse’s Big Ten championship winning thriller

After the game, Cuocco credited her defense for making her job easy, expressed gratitude toward the coaching staff for believing in her, explained that winning was the reason she came to Northwestern and that everyone had bought into her as a player.

Her impact only grew as the stakes rose. In overtime, with Maryland possessing the ball and a golden opportunity to win the conference tournament for the first time in four years, Cuocco made a double save on a two close-range shots, keeping NU alive. She finished the extra frame with three saves total, each one more crucial than the last.

Unsurprisingly, Cuocco was named the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Over Northwestern’s two tournament games, she posted a 65.9% save percentage, recording 27 saves and allowing just 14 goals.

Annabel Child’s last-second heroics sealed a historic four-peat

The box score shows that Child finished with a career-high three goals on three shots — her first career hat trick. She also scooped three ground balls in the win. But numbers alone do not capture the magnitude of her overtime winner.

With time winding down in the extra period, Maryland had just squandered a golden opportunity. Northwestern raced up the field after Cuocco’s late-game defensive stand. The ball found Madison Taylor for her crack at winning the game. Her shot went wide. A second opportunity arose for her just seconds later. The ball fell out of her stick on her backswing. Then, with under 10 seconds left, the ball rolled to Child on the right side of the fan.

She turned the corner on her defender, found the smallest opening and while falling to the ground, fired a laser past Suriano. The ball hit the net with less than one second remaining. A brief video review confirmed the goal. Chaos ensued.

Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller later described how the team never let its ‘loving the hard fight’ mentality waver, noting that even when things were not going their way, every player in the huddle was smiling. She emphasized that staying composed was the biggest enabler for the group.

Child’s winner capped a remarkable second-half performance. She scored twice in a three-minute span during the third quarter, turning a 3-1 halftime lead into a 5-1 advantage. But it was her final goal, the one that sent Northwestern to its fourth straight conference title, that will be remembered for years.

The Wildcats are now the first program in Big Ten history to win four consecutive Big Ten Tournament championships. It was also Northwestern’s sixth Big Ten Tournament title overall. The victory extended Northwestern’s winning streak over Maryland to seven games, making the Wildcats the first team ever to build a seven-game winning streak against the Terrapins.

Northwestern survived a stunning fourth-quarter collapse and Maryland’s draw control dominance

For 39 minutes, Northwestern looked to be in complete control. The Wildcats led 3-1 at halftime, the lowest-scoring first half in Big Ten title game history and extended their advantage to 7-3 early in the fourth quarter. A four-goal lead with 11 minutes remaining felt insurmountable, especially given Cuocco’s dominance in net.

Then Maryland flipped the script.

The Terrapins rattled off four unanswered goals to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:46 left in regulation. Keeley Block notched the equalizer, a close-range dart from the right wing. During the run, Maryland won four of five draw controls and finally found gaps in Cuocco’s blockade.

The draw circle told much of the story. Maryland outdrew Northwestern 10-6 on the game, with Kayla Gilmore commanding the circle. It marked just the second time in Northwestern’s last 12 games that the Wildcats lost the draw battle. The first also came against Maryland on April 9.

With 17 seconds left in regulation, Maryland had possession and a chance to win. But redshirt sophomore midfielder Madison Smith made a game-saving play, jumping a passing lane and forcing a turnover. She took a calculated risk and Cuocco later highlighted Smith as the team’s rock throughout the game, noting that Smith knew everyone would have her back on that aggressive play.

That turnover sent the game to overtime for the first time in Big Ten Championship history. And after Cuocco’s heroics and Child’s winner, Northwestern escaped with its seventh straight win over Maryland.

The Northwestern ride also proved critical, as the Wildcats forced 12 caused turnovers and held Maryland to just 18 successful clears on 27 attempts, a 66.7% success rate that disrupted the Terrapins’ transition game throughout the afternoon.

What’s Next

Northwestern (15-3, 7-1 Big Ten) has clinched the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Ranked No. 1 in the RPI, the Wildcats will await their postseason seeding during the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Selection Show on Sunday, May 3, at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

The NCAA Tournament is slated to begin May 8. If Northwestern plays anything like it did in Ann Arbor: record-breaking goaltending, late-game poise and last-second magic, this team will be a serious threat to make a run once again.

By the numbers:

• Northwestern improved to 7-0 in its last seven games against Maryland.
• The Wildcats have now won four straight Big Ten Tournament titles, a conference record.
• Jenika Cuocco’s 18 saves tied the Big Ten Tournament single-game record and set a new Northwestern program mark.
• Madison Taylor finished her Big Ten Tournament career with an 8-0 record.
• Northwestern held Maryland to its lowest first-half total in Big Ten Championship history at just one goal.