EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 9 Northwestern moved one step closer to earning a second consecutive Big Ten regular season title as it pulled away in the second half for a 4-1 win over Ohio State at Lakeside Field Saturday afternoon.
The victory improves the Wildcats to 12-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play. With one game left in the Big Ten season, Northwestern is tied for first place with Maryland.
"We're really starting to put some goals away and we're capitalizing on our circle penetration," Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs said. "Overall, I'm happy. Any time you have a chance to vie for a championship in a conference like the Big Ten, it's very rewarding."
The Wildcats didn't waste much time in getting on the scoreboard, capitalizing on their first penalty corner of the game. Dominique Masters did the honors, ripping a blast past Liz Tamburro for her team-leading 11th goal of the season off assist from Lisa McCarthy and Charlotte Martin just 2:25 into the contest.
NU eventually increased its lead to 2-0 at 14:22 when Ashley Bernardi scored an unassisted goal after she put home a rebound of Tamburro's save of Kelley Stump's initial shot.
The 'Cats would carry the two-goal advantage into halftime as it held a slim 8-6 edge in shots and 3-2 in penalty corners over the opening 35 minutes of play.
Ohio State managed to get right back into the contest early in the second half as Maddy Humphrey tipped in a feed from Morgan Kile to make it 2-1 just over a minute and a half into the period.
From there, Northwestern took charge, however. The Wildcats eventually got their two goal lead back at 46:07. A charging Tamburro made the save on Caroline Troncelliti's initial shot, but freshman Sophia Miller was able to lift the ensuing shot over Tamburro and into the top right corner of the cage for her first collegiate goal.
NU's determination paid off once again with just over 15 minutes left as it scored once again to put the game away. Tamburro made consecutive saves, but Lisa McCarthy was waiting for loose ball on the doorstep and fellow Dublin, Ireland, native Juliet Beatty tapped home McCarthy's feed, giving the 'Cats a three-goal lead.
The cushion was more than enough for Maddy Carpenter who made three saves to earn her 50th career victory. Lauren Bernardi also came up with a defensive save in the second half for the Wildcats.
Northwestern finished the contest with a 19-11 advantage in shots, including 11-5 in the second half, and a 7-4 edge in penalty corners. Tamburro made 12 saves for Ohio State to limit the damage.
With a Big Ten title on the line, the Wildcats travel to Penn State on Friday to wrap up the regular season. The contest is slated for a 2:30 p.m. Central time start and is being televised by Big Ten Network. A victory would give NU its second straight conference title and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Big Ten tournament.