I think this game showed their weaknesses on defense. The three previous games made their defense look better than it actually was. They need to do a better job at riding and communicating because Sarah Cooper got caught 4 or more times standing within the 8 meter for 3 seconds, which resulted in free position shots and eventually goals. Also, there were players being left wide open because players weren't sliding. They got better towards the end of the game though which is good to see.
Once again, the draw was a problem (20-11). Gait needs to stop the whole Hawryschuk, Cross, Kempney, and Widner 3 DC's rotation thing. If they aren't winning any draws, dont use them. Its that simple. He should've only used Kempney and Hawryschuk, as they were the only ones who were getting the best looks out of the four. Cross had only 1 draw control win throughout the whole game while Widner had none. Widner false started twice and he still let her take more draws after that.
For the offense, it looks they are playing a box lacrosse, very Cornell men's lacrosse/Canadian style. Tried to force the ball inside which eventually led to turnovers and a 17 minute scoring drought. They have got to clean that up before the next game and especially for when they play Maryland and UNC. Also, when they get the ball in their offensive end they need to be more disciplined. When you clearly aren't winning the draws, you would think once they got the ball into their offensive end they would want to give their defense a bit of a break. Nope, not today. Settle it down, work the ball around first and then attack instead of trying to force things that aren't there. They are EXTREMELY lucky to have escaped this one with a win given the lopsided numbers on the draw and the 17 minute scoring drought.
Despite the negatives, this was a good team win. Easily could have ended when Northwestern was 2 goals up or when NW won the draw in overtime but they rallied together to play good defense and get the ball out of Lasota's stick.