Northwestern, undefeated and running roughshod over just about any team it faced, experienced a crushing blow when it fell to Syracuse by an eight-goal margin in the 2021 NCAA semifinals.

On a chilly winter day in Evanston, the Wildcats got their revenge. Graduate attacker Lauren Gilbert exploded off the eight-meter arc during overtime, securing a thrilling 16-15 victory for the Wildcats.

“At the time, it was pure elation and joy,” Gilbert said. “Avenging the Final Four loss was an incredible feeling. Being a fifth year, that’s why we came back — to climb mountains like that and have that incredible feeling of satisfaction.”

The Wildcats, a member of the Big Ten, were limited to conference-only play during the 2021 regular season. Now, they’re nearing the end of one of the toughest scheduling stretches in the NCAA. Over the past month alone, Northwestern has faced No. 1 Boston College, No. 2 North Carolina, then-No. 20 Notre Dame and then-No. 3 Syracuse. On Thursday, they close out this rigorous stretch against No. 6 Stony Brook.

Northwestern sits 4-2 on the season, including two significant losses to Boston College and North Carolina — the teams ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20. But these challenges have been an important way to learn and gain experience, Gilbert said.

“We had a tough loss on Sunday [against North Carolina],” Gilbert said. “As much as it was humiliating and painful, these are the challenges we didn’t face in the regular season last year. It hurt us when we got to the Final Four. You never want to have losses like that ever, but we’ve talked about [how it’s better to] have it happen now and be able to make adjustments than have it happen too late when we can’t make those adjustments.”

The Wildcats’ lineup has certainly changed since that loss last May. Attackers Lindsey McKone and Sammy Mueller graduated, and Izzy Scane, one of the top single-season scorers in NCAA history, is out for the season with an ACL injury. Losing Scane has been challenging, coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said, and the team has been working on persevering and hanging on in tight games without her.

Without three of the program’s top attackers from 2021, Northwestern’s offense has completely shifted. Graduate midfielders Jill Girardi and Brennan Dwyer, best known previously for their prowess on the draw, have been key to the Wildcats’ offensive success. Both players have already surpassed their goal totals from last year. Girardi did it in the first game alone.

Girardi, Dwyer and Gilbert have put up a combined 48 goals in 2022, or over half of Northwestern’s 90 total. That trio, plus graduate defender Ally Palermo, are the program’s sole fifth-year returners. Coming back has been especially exciting after how much COVID-19 affected the program’s last two seasons, Gilbert said.

“It’s been a really rewarding experience and feeling so far,” Gilbert said. “With that leadership, we can definitely carry this team really far.”

Palermo, senior goalkeeper Madison Doucette and senior midfielder Allie Berkery have been the team’s defensive cornerstones. Amonte Hiller has been generally excited by the unit, saying they’re continuing to work toward consistency despite struggling in contests against high octane offenses like BC, UNC and Syracuse.

Through the ups and downs of Northwestern’s competitive schedule, Gilbert said she’s been impressed by the team’s tenacity — especially in the victory over Syracuse, when the Orange nearly staged a second-half comeback.

“Past teams that I’ve been on would’ve lost hope, and we’ve struggled with rolling over to an opponent [when] they’re just going on a run and we’re losing focus,” Gilbert said. “The fact that we snapped back and fought our way back to that game really shows the fight that we have in this team.”

Amonte Hiller agreed, saying she’s been most proud of the team’s ability to hold strong through the daunting schedule.

“We’ve been faced with incredible challenges,” Amonte Hiller said. “I don’t think there’s another team that plays three top-five teams in the span of 10 days. That’s insane. I love how they’re tackling these challenges, and we’re learning and improving and getting better with each day that goes by.”