It was the first possession of the game and things already weren’t going Katie Webster’s way.

She had missed the goal on two free-position shots that would have given Syracuse an early lead. The first sailed over the net, the second one off to the left.

But SU maintained possession, and the ball ended up in Webster’s stick once again. This time, she let go of a shot running across the goal. She watched as it bounced up into the net, before throwing her stick to the ground and hugging her teammates.

“I just kept thinking to myself, keep going, keep trying,” Webster said. “The third one went in, thank goodness.”

After a slow start, Webster rebounded to lead No. 3 Syracuse (9-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) to an 11-7 win over No. 7 Northwestern at the Carrier Dome on Sunday afternoon. She picked up a team-high four points and recorded two goals to help get SU its first win over Northwestern in its last 12 tries.

On a day when offense was hard to come by, Webster made it look easy.

“I think we played really well in transition,” Webster said. “So especially when we get the ball from 30 and 30, we were involved, and I think we did really well with that today.”

Her second goal gave the Orange a 3-2 lead just eight minutes into the game, and after that, she was able to do damage with her passing.

She had another free-position opportunity late in the first half. She charged toward the goal, and faked the shot before dishing if off to Devon Collins who stood adjacent to the cage and was able to score easily.

In the second half, Webster found a cutting Alyssa Murray, who scored to give the Orange an 8-6 lead. It was the closest the game would get the rest of the way.

“I think (that play) just got the defense on their heels a little bit,” Murray said. “We were trying to take the wind out of their sails and that just started a big run for us and it was a great look by Katie.”

Her two assists matched her total for the season, and doubled her total from last year. The senior has been a bright spot for SU all season.

Along with Amy Cross the on the front-line of the midfield, her play this year was punctuated with huge performance over a defensively stout Northwestern team.

SU head coach Gary Gait said that a few holes in the Wildcats defense allowed Webster to capitalize.

“Northwestern’s defensive gameplan set up some opportunities for them to get some nice opportunities to score,” Gait said. “They took advantage of it on cuts through the middle and a couple times getting the open dodge down the middle.”

Webster said it was exciting to finally be able to get a win over Northwestern. She’s lost to the Wildcats four times by a combined 10 goals, including in the national championship two seasons ago.

After the game a big grin under the eye-black that streamed down her face couldn’t be hidden.

“It’s just the greatest feeling,” she said. “For all of us.”

Published on March 23, 2014 at 6:09 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3