IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In a battle of the two remaining Big Ten unbeatens, No. 11 Northwestern took control of first place in the league by taking down No. 7 Iowa 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Grant Field.
Early goals by Lisa McCarthy and Caroline Troncelliti set the tone as the 'Cats improved to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten with their sixth straight victory.
"This was another really solid team performance today," Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs said. "We played solid across every line. We came out and were able to score two quick goals. We have been talking about starting on our front foot all week and I though we played a complete game."
Northwestern came into the matchup at 3-0 in the Big Ten while Iowa was 2-0. Meanwhile, every other team in the league had suffered at least one conference loss.
The Hawkeyes were coming off an 8-0 win over Ball State on Friday, but it was the Wildcats who put the offensive pressure on early. NU earned three penalty corners in the first five minutes of the match and the third one resulted in a goal as Dominique Masters found McCarthy on the doorstep, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead at 5:17.
Just two minutes later, the advantage grew to two as Isabel Flens found Troncelliti who beat goalkeeper Alexandra Pecora for her eighth goal of the season.
Iowa managed to get one of the goals back at 12:59 as Big Ten leading goal-scorer Natalie Cafone tallied her 15th of the season with Stephanie Norlander assisting on the play.
Northwestern would maintain the 2-1 advantage into halftime as the Wildcats' stingy defense allowed just two shots by Iowa over the opening 35 minutes of play while NU managed eight shots of its own. The 'Cats had six penalty corners in the half to just one for Iowa.
The hosts came out more aggressive in the second half, but Northwestern was up to the task, including goalkeeper Maddy Carpenter who made three saves in the first 14 minutes of the stanza.
The precarious one-goal lead held up until the 'Cats notched a huge insurance goal with just 5:29 remaining. Masters tallied her seventh goal of the year off of Kelley Stump's assist, giving NU a two-goal advantage that was more than enough.
Northwestern continues its road swing next weekend beginning with a contest against fifth-ranked Stanford in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Friday. The contest is slated to get underway at 6 p.m. CT.