EAST LANSING, Mich. -- No. 9 Northwestern regained a share of first place in the Big Ten as it rode a strong first-half performance en route to a 5-2 victory over Michigan State at Ralph Young Field on Sunday afternoon.
The victory raises the Wildcats' record to 5-1 in Big Ten play, matching the mark of Michigan.
After struggling in the first half in a 2-1 loss at Michigan on Friday night, the Wildcats came out on fire against the Spartans, scoring three times in the first 17 minutes of the contest to take control.
Michigan State had the first good scoring opportunity of the match as it earned a penalty corner, but it was Northwestern that scored a goal off a quick counter attack. Charlotte Martin connected with a streaking Dominique Masters who possessed the ball inside the top of the circle where she blasted a rocket past Sierra Patton to make it 1-0 NU at 3:34.
The 'Cats made the most of their penalty corner attempts in the opening half. On their first attempt, inserter Lisa McCarthy knocked in a loose ball on the goalline increasing Northwestern's advantage to 2-0 at 14:43. Caroline Troncellit was credited with an assist on the play.
NU's second penalty corner was also successful two minutes later when Lauren Bernardi perfectly executed a tip-in off of Masters' hit from the top of the circle, giving the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats carried the three-goal advantage into halftime after holding a 6-1 edge in shots over the opening 35 minutes of play.
Michigan State had a couple of good scoring chances early in the second half, first off of a penalty corner and then when Allie Ahern was in alone on goalkeeper Maddie Carpenter, but Carpenter and the Northwestern defense came up with stops on both occasion to maintain the 3-0 lead.
The Spartans were finally able to get on the board at 48:02 as Abbie Barker made a long run into the circle. Carpenter made a save on Barker's initial shot, but the rebound came to Alli Helwig who scored to make it 3-1.
Things started to get interesting just under two minutes later off a penalty corner as Kristin Matula scored off Jennie Smith's assist, trimming Northwestern's lead to just one with 20 minutes still remaining.
With the Spartans holding all of the momentum, NU got things under control and Masters notched a much-needed insurance goal with just over 10 remaining to push the lead back to two. Isabel Flens was credited with an assist on the play while the goal was Masters' ninth of the season.
With just under five minutes remaining, MSU earned a corner and had a great chance to trim its deficit back to one, but Carpenter made an athletic save going to her right on a shot by Matula.
The Wildcats got one final tally with just 15 seconds remaining when Flens scored a beautiful goal, lifting a shot over a charging Patton for her team-leading 10th tally of the year.
After playing five consecutive matches on the road, Northwestern finally returns home on Saturday as it hosts Ohio State in its final Big Ten home game of the season. The contest is slated for a noon start.