It was an unusually sunny Saturday at Martin Stadium as three teams came out to battle for the final round of the annual Chicago Cup. Northwestern (10-5-4 in 2018) hosted DePaul University (8-6-5 in 2018) and Loyola-Chicago University (11-7-1 in 2018) over the weekend. Despite dropping their first preseason match against the Mexican U20 National Team this past week, Northwestern rebounded with a 1-0 win over DePaul and a 0-0 draw against Loyola, good enough to win the Chicago Cup.

After playing in their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament and the Wildcats continued their 2019 spring season against their local rivals. Northwestern played both teams in exhibition games this past summer, beating Loyola-Chicago 1-0 but suffering a loss against DePaul 1-3. This round of competition, however, proved to be different.

Each game was only 45 minutes long due to all three teams being short from injuries. The Wildcats pulled out a big win against the Blue Demons, finishing the match with a score of 1-0 behind a goal from sophomore forward Kayleigh Stahlschmidt.

Northwestern faced more of a challenge against Loyola-Chicago. Though typically expected to beat the Ramblers, the Wildcats struggled to finish their shots and the second game ended in a tie. Both teams were unable to score in what turned out to be a fairly choppy game. Northwestern seemed to control possession, especially at the beginning, but it was not enough to bypass the Ramblers’ midfield and put points on the board.

Despite only tying their second game, the Wildcats were still able to secure the title as the winners of the Chicago Cup. On April 27, the ‘Cats look for another home win against DePaul leading up to their Alumni Match the following day to conclude their spring season.