Northwestern Answers First Loss With 4-1 Win at Indiana

Northwestern came to Bloomington five days after its first loss of the season and three days after losing the top spot in the NFHCA poll to Maryland. It left with its answer. The #2 Wildcats beat #11 Indiana 4-1 at Deborah Tobias Field on Friday, ending the Hoosiers' four-game winning streak and their perfect home and Big Ten records, and extending Northwestern's run against Indiana to 11 straight wins.

Ilse Tromp did the early damage from the penalty corner. Her dragflick on Northwestern's first corner, with about two minutes left in the first quarter, was the first goal Indiana had allowed at home all season and her 10th of the year. Mintje Hagen equalized barely a minute into the second quarter, and Indiana led 7-3 in shots at halftime. Tromp restored the lead in the 26th minute with another dragflick, this one set up by a no-look pass from Laura Salamanca. After the break the game belonged to Northwestern. Ashley Sessa, the team's leading scorer, made it 3-1 with a reverse shot off Olivia Bent-Cole's feed in the 33rd minute, and Raquel Hofmeister tipped in a corner in the 42nd after Indiana goalkeeper Sadie Canelli had stopped Sessa and Salamanca. Indiana managed one shot in the second half. Northwestern, 14-1 and 5-0 in the Big Ten, hosts Maryland on Thursday.