Late Run by No. 11 Penn Ends Wildcats' Winning Streak

4/2/2017 3:04:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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EVANSTON, Ill. — The 16th-ranked Northwestern lacrosse team came up on the short end of a game of runs versus No. 11 Penn Sunday afternoon at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, 10-7.

The loss snapped the Wildcats' three-game winning streak and moved their record to an even 6-6 on the season, while the Quakers improved to 8-2.

Northwestern used a 3-0 run — on goals scored by senior captain Christina Esposito — to take a 7-5 lead midway through the second half, but the Quakers scored five unanswered goals over the final 13 minutes of the game to come away with the victory.

The Quakers struck first in the second half on a free-position goal to take a 5-4 lead before Esposito scored her first of the game with 22:41 on the clock to tie things up. She needed just 1:26 to score her second and give the Wildcats the lead before notching her 32nd of the season with 17:16 left in regulation to give the 'Cats their largest lead of the game, 7-5.

A yellow card in the midfield with just under 14 minutes to play gave the Quakers an opportunity to cut into the deficit and they tied the game with 11:25 to play on defender Megan Kelly's first career goal.

The back-to-back goals sparked the 5-0 run to close the game, while Penn's goalkeeper Britt Brown made three of her 13 saves over the final 13 minutes to keep the 'Cats from making any sort of comeback.

Penn jumped out to an early 2-0 lead to start the game before Chicago's Big Ten Team rattled off three unanswered to take its first lead of the game. Freshman Meghan Duffy scored her sixth of the season on an assist from sophomore Liza Elder to get NU on the board and junior Sheila Nesselbush scored a goal in her seventh-consecutive game to tie things up.

Senior Danita Stroup gave Northwestern its first lead of the game on an assist from junior Shelby Fredericks, 3-2.

Senior Catie Ingrilli scored her 16th of the season with 16 seconds left in the first half to give NU a 4-3 lead, but Penn scored just 12 seconds later to send the two teams to the break tied, 4-4.

Fredericks finished with a game-high eight draw controls to move past Kristen Kjellman (268) for second in program history with 273 career draw controls. Sophomore Claire Quinn had two caused turnovers, marking her fourth-straight game with at least a pair.

Northwestern is back in action on Thursday, April 6 when it takes on Ohio State in a conference showdown on the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. CT. The Wildcats are 2-0 in Big Ten play with victories over Michigan and Johns Hopkins.