We’re back for more field hockey discussion, this time about Northwestern’s weekend in the Philadelphia suburbs and arguably its best weekend of the season. It kicked off by beating Delaware 4-0 in Newark
before defeating Villanova 5-0 in front of a packed, standing-room-only crowd at a national hotbed for the sport. Let’s talk all about it!
Is this peak Northwestern hockey?
After numerous games where the Wildcats “won ugly” through overtime winners, goals after several missed chances and gritty defense, things finally sailed smoothly for a whole weekend.
Against Delaware, Northwestern put its struggles with penalty corner conversion rate to bed with three corner goals in the first quarter — two Ilse Tromp dragflick shots and a Grace Schulze redirect.
The Blue Hens upped their defense and actually controlled possession in the second quarter, and they prevented numerous chances from Northwestern in the third quarter. However, the ‘Cats proved their first-quarter offensive onslaught wasn’t a fluke when Tromp scored her third late in the game off a phenomenal backwards pass from Maddie Zimmer. It was the Dutchwoman’s first career hat trick.
While the contest against Delaware was good enough, Villanova was perhaps even better. This match had basically everything one could ask for as a ‘Cats fan.
Tromp opened the scoring three minutes into the game with yet another corner, and then did it again right before halftime to ensure Northwestern would score a goal in each quarter (the first time that has happened all year). Then Zimmer and Piper Borz (twice) added on more goals in the second half – the game was out of reach to the point where Villanova started putting in its substitutes. Additionally, NU goalkeeper Juliana Boon joined in on the action with five saves.
In total, Northwestern allowed zero goals across the weekend while outshooting its opponents 58-13. And even though its opponents weren’t the strongest, this rather straightforward showing from the nation’s top-ranked team is considerable progress. I’m sure head coach Tracey Fuchs is still looking for areas of improvement, but the jumps we’ve seen from this already-strong team bode well for conference play.
Corner merchants (positive)
Guess what? We’re talking about penalty corners again, because they are a main weekend theme once more. But this time, it’s not to lament the lack of corners, but to talk about how Northwestern has finally turned the corner.
Before the Delaware match, Northwestern was 4-for-46 on corners (8.6%). After this weekend, that number is now up to 10-for-79 (12.7%). And while that doesn’t seem like a huge boost, the ‘Cats are 7-for-33 on the weekend (21.2%), which is impressive given the sheer volume of PCs the team drew.
So what’s going right for Northwestern? The answer lies in the fact that these attempts seem a lot cleaner. In the past, a lot of these opportunities weren’t successful because players were shooting at bad angles or had their shots blocked. Or the player receiving the insert wouldn’t field the ball well, resulting in possession going to the other team.
By contrast, most of Northwestern’s successful corners were pulled off with a simple 1-2-3 action — Sessa (most of the time) inserts, another player tees it and Tromp scores a goal with one dragflick. Just look at Tromp’s first goal against Delaware, where everything was perfectly executed on a whim.
Even when the initial shot isn’t successful, the attempts still look a lot better — there were many instances where Tromp and Maja Zivojnovic took swings that went just a little wide. Players are also positioned well to deflect balls into the net, like for Grace Schulze’s goal against Delaware and Borz’s first goal against Villanova.
The last point I want to make is that it’s not just the successful attempts Northwestern had this week, but also the increasing number of chances. The ‘Cats took 17 corners against Delaware and 16 at Villanova — the only other time they had a double-digit amount of attempts was when they took 15 against VCU on opening weekend. As the commentators on the NU-Villanova broadcast (which was otherwise littered with Philly-area field hockey references) said, it’s the ability of players like Zimmer to cut through the middle and draw fouls in the shooting circle.
Obviously, shifting towards the other extreme and only scoring off corners isn’t ideal. But sometimes, teams need to learn how to be corner merchants to win games.
Full-field press
Every week, I briefly reference the defense as a collective entity in column sections that mostly focus on offense-centric issues. Part of that is because it’s much harder to highlight non-goalie defenders, given the lack of defensive statistics outside of saves. However, this unit has arguably been the biggest reason Northwestern is undefeated, and it’s time to dive deeper into that.
Take the second quarter at Delaware, where the Blue Hens had the most scoring chances. Below is a minute-long defensive sequence from Northwestern from that period.
First, the ‘Cats successfully defend a penalty corner without having to do much — Zimmer, Tromp and Greta Hinke position themselves quickly enough to put pressure on Delaware’s Iris Bekker, whose shot gets misplaced and deflected fast (for all the talk about Northwestern’s offensive corner opportunities, the defense has only allowed one corner goal all year).
Afterward, the Blue Hens reset. But right when it seems like they have some space, Nadia Nemeth (someone who impressed this past weekend with several interceptions) picks off Kate Fiest. Nemeth is double-teamed, but keeps the ball in bounds and baits Delaware into forcing it out — awarding Northwestern a clearing opportunity. Just a few moments later, Tromp finds herself in the same position as Nemeth and produces the same result. Northwestern’s ball control in these stalemate situations by the lines is one of the most impressive aspects of its defense, as it always escapes through precise passing or by doing just enough to provoke its opponent into a mistake.
But much of the time, the ball doesn’t even reach the opponent’s attacking third. That’s because of how good Northwestern is at taking possession in transition, like in this play.
After Delaware fails to connect on a pass, the entire Northwestern team mobilizes, starting with Boon running out of her cage to kick the ball to Emilie Kirschner. Later on, Ella Kokinis misses a pass intended for Laura Salamanca. The Wildcats still turn defense into offense because Zimmer is there to swoop in and beat two Blue Hens for the loose ball despite being behind both of them. Not only is this an example of Zimmer’s speed and tenacity, but it’s also just one of many sequences showcasing why it’s so hard for other teams to score on NU.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week: Ilse Tromp, junior back
Few players can earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors as a defender, but when five of Northwestern’s nine goals from the weekend game came from Tromp’s dragflick penalty corner shots, it’s warranted. Alongside her goals, which she now leads Northwestern in, the junior also deserves praise for being the center back and leader of the nation’s top-ranked defense.
Play of the Week: In a play labeled as the fourth-best of the week across the conference by Big Ten Network, Zimmer grabs hold of a loose ball and roofs her shot to the top-post from the striking circle — her first goal of the season. The reigning National Player of the Year doesn’t need to score to contribute to her team, but it’s always a sight to behold when she does.
Around the NCAA
- No excuses, but Northwestern’s tight overtime victory over Louisville looks a lot better now that the Cardinals have wins over Ohio State and No. 15 Saint Joseph’s on their resume.
- The biggest matchup of the weekend was an ACC clash between No. 3 Virginia and No. 6 Syracuse, which the Cavaliers won 2-1. The Orange were also upset 2-1 in overtime by No. 13 Wake Forest.
- For some reason, No. 9 Iowa and Indiana played twice in Bloomington, with Iowa winning both weekend contests. The Hawkeyes are now 7-1 with just one loss to No. 2 North Carolina and have the Big Ten’s leading scorer in Dionne van Aalsum — paving the way for a marquee rivalry matchup with the ‘Cats on Oct. 3.
- Speaking of North Carolina, the Tar Heels are in their “running up the score” stretch of the season, scoring 5-1 and 8-1 wins over ACC foes California and Stanford, respectively.
What’s Next?
We’ve waited for weeks and it’s finally here. The start of Big Ten play and the first home opener will be on Friday at 3 p.m. CT, where the ‘Cats take on Indiana following the unveiling of the 2024 national championship banner at Lakeside Field. The Hoosiers are 4-4 but only have losses to ranked teams like Boston College, Louisville and Iowa. In addition, the narrow 1-0 victory in Bloomington in 2024 is likely still on the minds of Northwestern players.
