Opening weekend was really weird.
No Ashley Sessa — she had just gotten back from the World Cup in Europe and needed the weekend to shake the cobwebs out.
No Olivia Bent-Cole, who’s dealing with a day-to-day injury as of now.
A lot of lineup tinkering that we weren’t expecting to see, but the end result was as expected for Northwestern: two dubs at home.
Let’s catch you up on what went down this weekend.
Friday, Aug. 28 vs. VCU
The absences listed above opened the door for some new names to make their way into the starting lineup:
sophomore Lindsey Brown, first-year Sol Martinez and transfer Jess Freedman were all part of the starting XI for Tracey Fuchs, the latter of the three having the largest impact on the game as the penalty corner inserter for the ‘Cats.
That’s where the majority of the story is told, but before we get to that, we need to address a beauty of a possession from Aerin Krys at the start of the second half, reflective of the vision that made her a standout as a full-time starter in 2025.
As you’ll see below, Ella Kokinis leads Krys down the right flank with a great find to set her up for the circle entry. Krys then gets smothered along the end line, but with some great body control and quick stick work, she’s able to work towards the cage and reconnect with Kokinis for the score.
Chalk this up to great communication and chemistry. Kokinis and Krys seemed like they knew exactly how they wanted this play to unfold. Kokinis dashes towards the cage immediately and stays patient as Krys slowly works back towards her.
Not too long after, NU had its PC of the season and took no time to reach deep into the playbook, shifting right before the insert to confuse the Rams defense. They’d score on the play.
Although this weekend needs to be taken with a grain of salt because of the circumstances NU is faced with right now, a major takeaway from Friday is that Salamanca could undertake a larger role on set pieces alongside Tromp at the top of the circle. She had another opportunity later in the game to connect with Ilse for what would’ve been a spectacular play from Northwestern, but left her pass a tad bit short.
Even with the losses, Northwestern looked in control against a formidable Virginia Commonwealth team that won a share of the A-10 regular season title last year. Even Maddie Epke seems like she’s finding her flow, especially on this corner where she was half a step away from finding her first goal of the season.
If she finds herself on the back post, this is a tap-in score for her.
The glaring issue for NU was the inefficiency on corners, an issue that Fuchs did well in rectifying down the stretch in 2025. The ‘Cats were only 1-for-7 on Friday, but their luck on the PC managed to get worse on Sunday.
Sunday, Aug. 30 vs. Lafayette
13 penalty corners. ZERO scores.
Northwestern didn’t do much wrong. Addison Kahn was doing a ton of right in goal for the Leopards: a career-high nine saves and 15 total on the weekend en route to Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honors.
Oh, by the way, her two starts in Evanston were the first two of her collegiate career.
So it’s pretty insane to put into perspective that she’s doing things like this against the nation’s best.
But it wasn’t just her that was balling out defensively. Lafayette’s entire back line was locked in, especially on this Northwestern corner where every option that Salamanca could’ve had was shut down.
That doesn’t mean that NU didn’t have its opportunities. In the middle of the second quarter, Bree Moffett displayed the intangibles that made her one of the nation’s top recruits last fall by losing a defender, opening the door for a great pass and a subsequent opportunity for the Wildcats to score in close.
It was everything but the finish for Northwestern: great ball movement, control of possession throughout and poise up until the very last second.
And that was the story of the entire game, until Freedman gave the ‘Cats a late lifeline.
It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but time and time again, the nation’s no. 1 finds a way to make grit look great. At times, the Wildcats seem to score at will. Other days, not so much. But the determination remains the same, and that’s what separates NU as a field hockey program from many others in the country.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week: Jess Freedman, So., M
No Sessa, no OBC. Someone needed to step up and Freedman did just that as the PC inserter — a role that Sessa normally occupies. Her game-winner against Lafayette was very Bent-Cole-like from the back side post. In my opinion, she’s proven her worth to Fuchs and will continue to see the field once NU is back to full strength.
Unit of the Week: Back Line
Notice how I haven’t said a word about Juliana Boon yet?
That’s by design. No, I didn’t forget about her. It’s just that her job was made extremely easy by the backs this week. Her only two shots she needed to kick away came against VCU, and even then, it took 26 minutes and some change for the Rams to log a shot on goal. Boon had very little on her plate because the defense knew it needed to step it up without two of the team’s best goal scorers. Hats off to them.
Play of the Week: Jess Freedman’s First Career Goal
The first of what I believe will be many for Jess in Northwestern purple.
Not the flashiest or the fanciest — quite fundamental on the contrary — but it’s a moment worth putting in the scrapbook. If she lives up to the potential she displayed on the international stage, NU may have a successor to Maddie Zimmer.
What’s Next?
We’ve got a treat this upcoming weekend: the B1G x ACC Challenge, the third iteration of the Northwestern-Duke-Boston College round robin.
Duke comes into the weekend with a no. 6 national ranking after a shellacking of William & Mary last Friday and a 1-0 win over Richmond on Sunday — a breakout pair of games for Ashley Stockdale. Check out more on them in our NFHCA Top-10 Roundup.
BC split games against Providence (a 3-1 victory) and Albany (a 3-4 defeat). Expectations were high for the Eagles not too long ago, as the climbed as high as fourth nationally in the coaches poll last season, but collapsed in a 6-10 season, sending them into rebuilding mode.
For the Wildcats, one game presents a chance to test itself against a squad that’s bitter about missing the Final Four last year on its home field. For the other, it’s an opportunity to do more experimentation with the new pieces on this roster.
