MUNCIE, Ind. -- Three Northwestern goalkeepers combined on a shutout as the 10th-ranked Wildcats won for the eighth time in nine matches, cruising to a 6-0 win at Ball State Sunday afternoon.
Puck Pentenga scored a goal and assisted on three others to lead NU's offensive charge.
Northwestern (10-4 overall) jumped on the board quickly as it earned a pair of penalty corners in the opening two minutes of action and cashed in on the second opportunity when Pascale Massey deflected Pentenga's feed 95 seconds into the contest.
The Wildcats used the penalty corner to their advantage again at the 11:23 mark when Lily Katzman scored off an assist from Pentenga to make it 2-0.
Ball State was able to hang within two goals for the majority of the remainder of the half, but a late NU flurry doubled its lead. With just over 11 minutes left before halftime, Eva van Agt found the back of the cage and Curley followed with one of her own at 29:45 off yet another Pentenga assist, extending Northwestern's lead to 4-0.
Just as it did in Friday's win over Indiana, the 'Cats got one more goal with time expired in the opening stanza. A penalty corner resulted in Pentenga notching a goal off assists from Kirsten Mansfield and Sophia Miller as NU took a 5-0 lead into the intermission.
Northwestern got one more goal early in the second half off a penalty corner with Charlotte Vaziri recording the honors off assists from Mansfield and Miller.
The Wildcats took the foot off the gas the rest of the way as Annie Kalfas, Florien Marcussen and Caroline Hughes combined on the team's fourth shutout of the season.
NU finished the match with a 13-3 edge in shots and a 17-5 advantage in penalty corners.
Northwestern returns to Big Ten play at 3 p.m. Friday when it travels to Iowa. The Wildcats are back home next Sunday at 11 a.m. when they host UMass.
Puck Pentenga scored a goal and assisted on three others to lead NU's offensive charge.
Northwestern (10-4 overall) jumped on the board quickly as it earned a pair of penalty corners in the opening two minutes of action and cashed in on the second opportunity when Pascale Massey deflected Pentenga's feed 95 seconds into the contest.
The Wildcats used the penalty corner to their advantage again at the 11:23 mark when Lily Katzman scored off an assist from Pentenga to make it 2-0.
Ball State was able to hang within two goals for the majority of the remainder of the half, but a late NU flurry doubled its lead. With just over 11 minutes left before halftime, Eva van Agt found the back of the cage and Curley followed with one of her own at 29:45 off yet another Pentenga assist, extending Northwestern's lead to 4-0.
Just as it did in Friday's win over Indiana, the 'Cats got one more goal with time expired in the opening stanza. A penalty corner resulted in Pentenga notching a goal off assists from Kirsten Mansfield and Sophia Miller as NU took a 5-0 lead into the intermission.
Northwestern got one more goal early in the second half off a penalty corner with Charlotte Vaziri recording the honors off assists from Mansfield and Miller.
The Wildcats took the foot off the gas the rest of the way as Annie Kalfas, Florien Marcussen and Caroline Hughes combined on the team's fourth shutout of the season.
NU finished the match with a 13-3 edge in shots and a 17-5 advantage in penalty corners.
Northwestern returns to Big Ten play at 3 p.m. Friday when it travels to Iowa. The Wildcats are back home next Sunday at 11 a.m. when they host UMass.