THE EVE EDITION
AFTERGLOW | THU OCT 22
Maryland had not lost all season, and for most of three quarters at Lakeside Field it looked as if the Terrapins would leave Evanston the same way. They led 2-1 at halftime on two penalty corners and kept Northwestern without a shot for more than half an hour. Then Olivia Bent-Cole took the fourth quarter for herself. Her second and third goals came six minutes apart, the Wildcats added a fourth, and the only unbeaten team left in Big Ten play is the one that plays its home games beside Lake Michigan.
It was a night for the ones doing the chasing. Maddie DiMaria scored four more for the U.S. under-17s and has 10 goals in two matches, Leylah Fernandez dropped the first set in Ningbo and won 12 of the last 15 games, and a KLPGA player in only her second LPGA event matched the best round of the day in Haenam to sit two shots behind the world #3.
Bent-Cole Hat Trick Hands Maryland Its First Loss
#2 Northwestern beat #1 Maryland 4-2 at Lakeside Field in Evanston on Thursday night, scoring three times in the fourth quarter to end the Terrapins’ 14-game winning start. Maryland scored on penalty corners in each of the first two quarters, Ella Beach off a deflection in the 12th minute and Jordyn Hollamon just before halftime, around a Bent-Cole equalizer, and the Wildcats went 31 minutes and 48 seconds without a shot. Northwestern opened the fourth quarter a player up after a yellow card to Babs van Hest, and Bent-Cole tied it from the right edge of the circle in the 46th minute, then put the Wildcats ahead off a penalty corner in the 52nd for her first career hat trick. Northwestern added a fourth four minutes later, Juliana Boon stopped van Hest on Maryland’s last corner, and the Wildcats finished with seven shots on goal to Maryland’s three.
Northwestern is 15-1 and 6-0 in the Big Ten, with 34 straight regular-season conference wins. Maryland, 14-1 and 5-1, had trailed only once before this season and plays at Indiana on Sunday, when the Wildcats close their regular season at home against Rutgers.
DiMaria Scores Four as the U.S. Beats Kenya
Maddie DiMaria scored four times in the first half, two of them from the penalty spot, and the United States beat Kenya 6-1 in its second match at the U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. DiMaria scored in the 5th, 22nd and 35th minutes and converted again in first-half stoppage time, three days after her six goals against Samoa. Lordana Paletta made it 5-0 three minutes after halftime, Lindey Atieno scored for Kenya from distance, and Gianna Hanf finished it in stoppage time. The Americans kept 74 percent of the ball and have clinched a place in the round of 16.
DiMaria leads the tournament with 10 goals, and the U.S. has 23 in two matches, nearly twice as many as second-best Korea DPR. The Americans are unbeaten in seven straight World Cup matches, the longest run in the program’s U-17 history, and close Group E against China on Sunday.
Ryu Takes a Two-Shot Lead in Haenam
Haeran Ryu made eagles on the par-5 2nd and 6th holes, added four birdies on the back nine and shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-shot lead at the BMW Ladies Championship. The world #3 is at 13 under at Pine Beach Golf Links, has not made a bogey in 36 holes and hit every green in regulation in the second round. Min-sun Kim, a two-time KLPGA winner this year playing only her second LPGA event, also shot 64 and is tied for second at 11 under with Lauren Coughlin, who went bogey-free for a 66.
The scoring came after a harder first day: 48 players broke 70 in the second round, up from 17 in the first. A Kim win would put her on the LPGA without a trip through Q-School.
Fernandez and Bouzková Reach the Ningbo Semifinals
Leylah Fernandez lost the first set to Ekaterina Alexandrova and won 12 of the last 15 games, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, to reach her second semifinal of the season at the Ningbo Open. It was her second win over Alexandrova in two weeks, after a three-set first-rounder in Wuhan, and it squared their rivalry at 3-3. The Singapore champion has won 12 of her last 15 matches.
She meets Marie Bouzková on Saturday. Bouzková trailed Sara Bejlek 3-0 in the second set of their all-Czech quarterfinal and won five straight games on her way to a straight-sets win and her third semifinal of the year. The first two ended in titles in Nottingham and Bogotá. #1 Elena Rybakina and #4 Iva Jovic play the night session’s quarterfinals.
LAST LIGHT
Northwestern’s only loss this season came against Princeton, and the Wildcats now lead the Big Ten by a game with Maryland’s visit behind them. Maryland has allowed seven goals in six conference games, and Bent-Cole scored three of them.
Saturday brings the Ningbo semifinals and Game 4 of the WNBA Finals in Atlanta, where the Dream lead 2-1 and can move within a win of the first title in franchise history. Golden State has had three days to find an answer for Angel Reese, who has a double-double in every game of the series.