Hearts raced and fingers crossed as senior goalie Annabel Skubisz squared off with North Carolina’s Ryleigh Heck in sudden death overtime. In the national championship, the last situation Northwestern wanted to find itself in was defending a penalty stroke.
As Skubisz lifted her stick to block the shot and send the game into double overtime, Northwestern was reminded of how far it has come as a program.
The Wildcats heartbreakingly fell 2-1 in shootouts, but that image of Skubisz, who led Northwestern to three championship appearances and its first-ever title as a sophomore, should be remembered. Her save gave the ‘Cats hope to keep on fighting when the odds were stacked against them.