By Amit Mallik

The Northwestern women's soccer team finished the 2013 season 3-14-2. The program had not posted a winning season since 2008. And then, in head coach Michael Moynihan's third season in 2014, the switch flipped. The Wildcats finished 9-8-1 with a defense that only conceded 18 goals.

In 2015, the team made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998, allowing just 14 goals. And things kept getting even better, as the Wildcats posted a historic 2016, claiming a share of the Big Ten regular season title and advancing to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament behind a defense that allowed an NCAA-best seven goals for the entire season.

How did the Northwestern defense transform from one that struggled to stop its opponents to becoming the best unit in the country in 2016?

The answer starts with Lauren Clem, Kassidy Gorman, and Nikia Smith, who all joined the Wildcats ahead of the 2014 season.

"Every year, Michael [Moynihan] and David [Nikolic] have had different coaching styles dependent on the players that we have, but I think back to freshman year, we had two seniors in the center and two freshmen on the outsides," senior goalkeeper Lauren Clem said. "He knew where we fell experience-wise but never let Kassidy or Nikia fall under expectations and from the start they were both so strong, he knew he could rely on the defense."

"I knew where we were before I came in, but I saw it as a challenge," senior outside back Kassidy Gorman said. "But Michael never really let us not meet our standards. He always expected us to do well and play hard and you saw the results right away."

In its first season as a new-look defense, the backline posted a top-50 goals-against average in the country to go with nine shutouts.

2015 brought the arrival of Hannah Davison and Kayla Sharples, club soccer teammates at Eclipse Select, who immediately became the center back spine of Northwestern. That season the team collected a program-best 12 shutouts while recording a top-ten goals-against average.

"To come in and be given that responsibility to start was definitely intimidating," junior Hannah Davison said. "But given the comfort of playing with someone you had played with, a friend, and to be in between upperclassmen who had experience over us, it just helped both of us feel more comfortable on the field."

"I think having that familiarity and that experience for six years before even coming really helped us," junior Kayla Sharples said. "We knew each other's soccer styles, we even knew our weaknesses. We knew we had each other's back no matter what."

And immediately, Davison and Sharples meshed well with Clem and Gorman, leaders of the team already as sophomores.

"I think you could tell from both of them in practice that they are both people who will do anything to keep the ball out of the net," Davison said. "All four of us are very aggressive, but seeing their mentality locked into my brain what I need to do out there."

"We knew this was going to be a great backline as soon as we started," Gorman said. "We have two amazing center backs that came in, and it's really an awesome thing that we all could gel really well together."

That season, with all the talent that had emerged on the backline, Gorman realized that the defense was on the cusp of something special.

"It was my sophomore year playing at Toyota Park and one of the first games that we played together, and something happened where they broke our pressure and I was frustrated," Gorman said. "I was talking to our assistant coach Shannon [Neely] on the sideline and she was keeping me calm, and saying 'This is the moment where you guys learn that you work so well together, this is where you learn that you gel, and you have the chance to be one of the best back lines in the Big Ten.' From then on, I was like this is the Northwestern defense."

The backline was so good in 2015 the offense couldn't even score goals in practice.

"We would have shutouts in practice. It wasn't something we would say, we would just do it," Clem said. "And the coaches would have to say go 50 percent. That is not a moment where we're taunting the forwards or making their lives worse, we just have that inner confidence and we know what we're about."

The shutout became the hallmark of the Northwestern defense. The team led the country in 2016 with 17 of them. To date, Clem has collected 43 shutouts, which is tied for the tenth-highest mark in NCAA history. The Wildcats' penchant for finishing matches without conceding is downright historic.

"This group prides itself on keeping that zero," Davison said. "The first thing you think about is we want to win and then as a defensive player, the second thing in my mind is that we're going to get a shutout."

In Gorman's conversation with then-assistant coach Neely, she realized the key to success.

"Shannon said, 'Individually you are all very talented people, but together you're all even better. You guys move as a unit,' and at that moment I knew she was right,'" Gorman said. "We had the chance to be one of the best Big Ten defensive lines and we did it."

For all of the defense's individual talent, the secret to the incredible ability to gel seamlessly has been trust.

"I don't want to be cliché, but I really, truly think that the trust that we have in our backline really helps," Sharples said. "We have three years of experience together. That develops a lot of trust. Knowing that we have the same goal, of not even allowing the ball to get past us, and even if it does, trusting each other to cover, we know we will stop the ball from going into the goal."

"I think we trust each other sometimes more than we trust ourselves," Davison said. "We've faced some really challenging strikers, but because of the people behind me and knowing who I'm playing with, I truly believe that we can shut down any forward no matter what their skill is. We can tackle anything."

Trust led the Wildcats to NCAA-best marks in goals-against-average, shutouts, and goals conceded last season.

"I think our trust starts from the very beginning when we all first started playing together," Gorman said. "And I think that it has developed into something that's really great when we were Big Ten champs last year."

"I don't even have to worry about when the ball is going to come to me because I know that they are going to get the job done," Clem said. "We know when we step on the field it doesn't matter who we're playing. We are so confident that we can hold ourselves. We don't talk about it or meet after about how 'gelled' we are. It just happens because of how we carry ourselves."

"Defense is so unforgiving for us since we're all aggressive, but since we trust each other that we're covering each other, we're able to take those calculated risks," Sharples said. "We can be aggressive and step toward people, because we know that our teammates are behind us. One mistake can cost the game, but when you have a backline and a goalkeeper like we do, then it's really easy."

In the goal as the vocal leader of the team and the last line of defense, Clem leads the group with her never-ending communication.

"It starts with Clem, a very positive voice on the field. We could do something terrible on the field, almost cause a goal, and Clem will be like 'It's fine! That was great, they didn't score. Could you have done better, yes, but did they score? No. So you did your job,'" Davison said. "A lot of teams, when you don't have that voice to reassure you to pick yourself up, and leave your mistakes behind and move on, it's easy for that to get in your head and start rolling as the other team gets more chances. Not with Clem's reassurances."

"Obviously you can't save everything, but I'm always using my voice to prevent chances and problem solve before it does get to me," Clem said. "When it does, they're usually very manageable. All the little stuff is going through my mind when I have time to process and if I can communicate it will only help the team get better."

2017 has brought new challenges to the Wildcats, as the team has had to integrate new players into the backline and face a tougher schedule than last year. At 7-6-1, the team still believes it has everything left to play for.

"We can threaten and beat anybody that we face," Sharples said. "We just need to have more composure and we need to be more calm when things don't go our way because we've already experienced that this season. It has matured us and helped us grow."

"When we are on the same page we can do incredible things on the field and I think that we do have it in us," Davison said. "With the group of individuals that we have, we could go and be the best team in the country."

More importantly than even one season, however, is ensuring that the backline these Wildcats have forged remains a foundation of Northwestern teams to come.

"New players coming in already know about our defense and how we've been doing," Sharples said. "They know right off the bat this is something that our team prides itself on and we need to continue that tradition. We're going to hold them to that same standard and we need to communicate to them, we need to understand our leadership roles so that we help through all the ups and downs."

"Next year we still have four returning players, so we'll all be ready to go," Davison said. "By no means do we expect the defensive standard to let up."

And for Gorman and Clem, there is a lot to reflect on from their historic four years at Northwestern.

"I hope that when people look at me, they remember that I came out fighting," Gorman said. "I want them to say that I gave it everything and that I did it for this backline. I've been thankful to play with this group for four years."

"I want to be remembered for my impact but not in any numbers or amount of anything that I've done," Clem said. "I want people to see that I was able to step in, have presence and say, 'I know she's there, so we're going to be good today.'"

For a period of time, these 'Cats put their faith in each other to embolden the idea of what a defense can do.

"It was never like we're such a good backline, it was more of this is what a backline is," Davison said. "We broke all these records and that's the result of a cohesive unit. We like getting all those shutouts but that was never the goal. That's just what you do as defenders."

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The Making of a Championship Defense

••••••

Players Mentioned

Lauren Clem

Hannah Davison

Kassidy Gorman

Kayla Sharples

Nikia Smith

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

The Making of a Championship Defense

••••••

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Lauren Clem

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