The ‘Cats have won their third Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament championship in four years. In Columbus, No. 2 Northwestern (18-2, 7-1 B1G), the first seed in the tournament, took down second-seeded No. 1 Maryland (18-2, 7-1 B1G) with a 3-0 victory in a rematch of the Oct. 22 game that Northwestern won 4-2.
Northwestern scored early and they scored late to overcome the No. 1 team in the nation and secure itself a spot in the national tournament.
Ashley Sessa was the offensive star of the team with two
goals on just four shots and 46 minutes played. Juliana Boon led the ‘Cats defensively with seven saves. This was her second shutout in as many Big Ten Tournament games.
There was not a single shot or penalty corner for the first 8:30 of the game. Maryland ended that streak after earning a penalty corner with 6:27 to go in the first period. On that corner, Maryland sent two shots on frame, but NU’s Boon turned both aside.
Northwestern picked up a numbers advantage with 3:09 to go in the first quarter when Maryland’s Babs van Hest was shown a green card. Northwestern capitalized on a van Hest green card and found the net in the first matchup between the two teams this season. Ashley Sessa almost made history repeat itself about a minute later, but her deflected effort, set up by an Olivia Bent-Cole pass, was just wide of the goal. Northwestern was unable to capitalize on the 11 on 10 situation, which left the score at 0-0 to end the first quarter.
Northwestern struck first with 12:57 to go in the second quarter when Anna Arnold danced along the baseline, getting just a few feet from the goal before she centered it. Ashley Sessa hammered it home from close distance and the ‘Cats took the lead thanks to the 14th goal of the season for Big Ten Player of the Year.
Another big opportunity came with 9:30 to go in the period when Kiera Stack got a steal very close to the circle. The first-year drove toward goal and let off a shot, but Alyssa Klebasko stuck out a right foot to turn the effort away. Unfazed, Northwestern kept pushing and forced another save from Klebasko that turned into a penalty corner for the Wildcats. Bent-Cole’s shot on that penalty corner was blocked by the Maryland defense.
Boon picked up two huge saves toward the end of the second quarter, including a beautiful blocker save against a shot from Aida Ierubino. The Terps’ last opportunity of the quarter came with 8.5 seconds left when they earned another penalty corner. Boon came through again, saving the shot and ending the first half with a score of 1-0 in favor of Northwestern. In the first half alone, Boon picked up six saves while Maryland’s Klebasko only had one.
Northwestern earned penalty corners number three and four early in the third. Both ended with Klebasko saves against shots from Kerry McCormick and Laura Salamanca. The ’Cats’ fifth penalty corner came a minute later, and this time Northwestern found success. Olivia Bent-Cole took a shot from the edge of the circle and Ashley Sessa tipped it home over the pad of Klebasko. 2-0 ’Cats. That goal put Northwestern firmly in the driver’s seat; the ’Cats have not lost a game all season when they’ve scored at least two goals.
Boon and Klebasko traded huge saves over the rest of the third quarter, but in that time Northwestern was able to fix the shot on goal deficit, going from 6-2 in favor of Maryland in the first half to 7-7 at the end of the third.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the ‘Cats were confident, dancing on the sideline to the stadium music. And they had good reason to feel that way. Just thirty seconds into the fourth quarter, Klebasko deflected a shot from Raquel Hoffmeister straight to the stick of Jessica Freedman who tucked the ball just inside the left post. The call stood despite an umpire referral and Northwestern took a 3-0 lead.
NU took another numbers advantage right after the goal when Maryland first-year Ella Beach was shown a green card. Northwestern didn’t capitalize on the opportunity offensively, but the advantage did help it run out the clock defensively, as the ’Cats held Maryland to zero shots while up a player.
With the green card elapsed and Maryland needing a goal every four minutes to tie it, the Terrapins hit the gas offensively, especially after Freedman was given a green card for Northwestern. Maryland recorded multiple circle entries with the numbers advantage. Northwestern’s defense held though, and it was able to run out the green card so that just nine minutes stood between the Wildcats and a Big Ten Tournament championship.
Maryland got a yellow card with under six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, which effectively signaled the end of any comeback hopes. Sure enough, the Terrapins registered just two shots — neither of which were on frame — and no penalty corners in the final six minutes.
With the win, Northwestern will likely become the top-ranked team in the country and are now the favorites to win the national championship for the third year in a row.
The ‘Cats will now look forward to the 2026 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship, which will take place starting on Nov. 13 against an opponent to be determined.
