For the fourth consecutive season, Northwestern field hockey is going to the Big Ten tournament championship.
The Wildcats snapped a five-game postseason losing streak to Michigan on Friday, winning 5-3
in an offensive onslaught between both teams. While Northwestern got off to a 2-0 lead early in the first quarter and led 3-2 into halftime, Michigan wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Graduate student Grace Schulze powered Northwestern with two goals, an assist and two defensive saves. Maddie Zimmer recorded two assists, while Ashley Sessa and Maja Zivojnovic both scored a goal apiece. For Michigan, Cami Wiseman, Natalie Millman and Claire Taylor got scores on the board.
A 2 OT quarterfinal victory for the Wolverines was the catalyst for momentum heading into Friday afternoon. After defeating Rutgers, they’d look to play spoiler to Northwestern’s Big Ten dominance for the second straight year.
The Wildcats came out aggressively on the defensive end with a hard press on the Wolverines in their own penalty circle, drawing an early penalty corner just over a minute into the contest. It would be Ilse Tromp taking the ‘Cats first shot attempt of the day, only to have it booted away by Michigan goalie Hala Silverstein.
Northwestern would threaten again around the 10-minute mark, with Ashley Sessa pushing the pace. However, the attack went awry with an errant pass intended for Piper Borz, which ended up rolling out of bounds instead.
The contest would go quiet until the back half of the 12th minute, where Big Ten Player of the Year Maddie Zimmer took over for Northwestern, taking the ball coast-to-coast in transition, weaving through four Wolverine defenders to make her way into the arc to rip a shot right off Silverstein’s boot. Zimmer would recover the ball off the deflection to take a second shot from a sharp angle, and a redirection from Grace Schulze’s stick gave NU its first goal of the tournament.
Goal number two for the ‘Cats came early in the second quarter, with Schulze finding Sessa in front of the cage. Schulze, putting plenty of power behind her pass, was the beneficiary of a one-in-a-million stroke of luck, as her pass was popped into the air by the outstretched stick of Michigan back Claire Taylor, and came down just enough for Sessa to tap it in.
Michigan’s response — one it desperately needed — came with 8:46 left in the half. After countless opportunities that fizzled out beforehand, Cami Wiseman found the board to cut the Northwestern lead in half. A great deke from the Michigan attack caught Kerry McCormick off guard, giving Wiseman the room to work around her defender for the score.
The Wolverines continued to stay in their offensive groove, with Kelsey Reviello drawing their first penalty corner of the contest with five minutes left. The try seemed to be stifled, with the Wolverines opting to pass instead of taking an immediate shot off, but Natalie Millman found herself in space to sweep a shot to the left of Juliana Boon for the finish to tie the game at 2-2.
Schulze would respond just 30 seconds later for Northwestern to regain the lead, sneaking a shot past Silverstein after she stopped Sessa from converting on a previous attempt.
The Cardiac ‘Cats weren’t done giving Michigan trouble, as two minutes later, they’d rattle off four consecutive penalty corners. Silverstein held strong in the cage for her teammates in yellow, as she’d save three of the four penalty corner shots taken by the ‘Cats. Laura Salamanca would seem to get the better of the Wolverines’ keeper on the last penalty corner of the half, but her goal would be called back due to the ball staying in the circle on the attempt.
Olivia Bent-Cole shot at Silverstein with a minute left in the half, but she was denied as well, bringing Silverstein’s total to five, matching her season high. She was substituted out for Caylie McMahon at the half, Northwestern leading 3-2.
Both teams put on defensive clinics on their opponents’ first opportunities inside the circle to begin the second half. Northwestern smothered Abby Tamer along the end line to stop Michigan with 13 minutes to go, while Taylor snuffed out Zimmer’s push along the opposite end line.
After five minutes, Michigan had a golden opportunity to even the score with a penalty stroke after Salamanca was called for stopping a shot with her foot. Taylor, taking the shot for Michigan, seemed to have squandered the chance by sending a shot off the right post, but was awarded a second chance due to a false start from Boon. She went right again on her second shot, tucking it inside the post to knot the contest up at 3-3.
Tamer came in clutch for the Wolverines, defending a penalty corner in the 38th minute of the game. She intercepted a pass from Tromp intended for Sessa near the left post — a play Northwestern implemented to perfection against Michigan State in their regular season finale.
The ‘Cats attack remained relentless and they snatched the lead back towards the end of the period. After a busted set piece on a penalty corner, Maja Zivojnovic made a statement in a contest with a shot and score that closely resembled her game-winner against Maryland weeks beforehand.
The Wolverines were stopped on their first attempt to score inside the 25 in the fourth, but NU put Michigan in a bind on the other end, forcing head coach Kristi Gannon Fisher to use a referral to wipe a Sessa goal off the board in the game’s 48th minute.
However, the cost of that successful use was a NU penalty corner, as the ball was seen coming off the foot of a Michigan defender during the play. And it did cost them dearly. Tromp capitalized on the chance to give NU a multi-goal lead for the first time since the beginning of the second quarter.
Michigan’s two penalty corners after the goal were rejected by the ‘Cats. Abby Burnett’s shot was deflected and then Grace Schulze would make two incredible defensive saves with her stick to deny Dru Moffett.
Northwestern ran the clock out for a 5-3 victory, conquering its postseason demons against the Wolverines. It will await the winner of the Ohio State-Iowa semi-final later on Friday for a date in the Big Ten Tournament championship, which takes place on Sunday at 11 a.m. CST on Big Ten Network.
