In a crucial step toward the Michigan field hockey’s goal of winning the Big Ten, the Wolverines beat conference contender Northwestern on Friday.

The road win places Michigan atop the Big Ten standings and sets the scene for a run toward the Big Ten regular-season title and onward to the Big Ten Tournament in Evanston.

After a rough start to the season in which the Wolverines lost their first four matches, they have now hit their stride. The team looks more and more like a force to be reckoned with and have silenced critics by winning 10 of their last 11 matches and defeating sixth-ranked Michigan State and 15th-ranked Penn State. Michigan narrowly lost to top-ranked Maryland 4-3 earlier this month.

What has brought about the change in fortune?

“We all changed our mindset a bit,” senior Alicia Mayer said. “The past two years haven’t been the greatest for us. I think we just really needed a win to know what it feels like again. Honestly, we really just started working hard. We go really hard at practice every day and we work hard and do our best and we out-hustle and out-run. I think that’s really what does it for us is our aggressiveness and we really just don’t want to lose.”

This attitude has helped Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 10-5 overall) go undefeated so far in Big Ten play and reach the No.12 position in the nation. Freshman Rachel Mack has helped to lead the team as the Brit recently garnered her fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor. She has led the team with 12 goals and 26 points on the season.

“I’ve been really happy with the way I’ve been playing so I’m just trying to keep that going,” Mack said. “We have really good team synergy so I think that also helps if everyone’s getting on well and you want to score more, you want to play harder for your friends. I’m just looking forward to scoring more goals, really.”

The Wolverines have two more home games, against Ohio State and UC Davis, after which they will finish the season away against Indiana.

But they will have to win against arch-rival Ohio State, currently second in the Big Ten (3-1 Big Ten, 11-3 overall), to clinch the regular season title.

“We sat down and clearly defined our goals.” Mack said. “We’re all working towards the same thing and that’s winning the Big Ten’s and seeing how far we can go.”