DURHAM, N.C. — The last time Northwestern and North Carolina met, when the Tar Heels defeated the Wildcats in a penalty shootout for the 2023 NCAA Championship, Maddie Zimmer couldn’t do anything but watch.
Away from her team for an Olympic gap year, the current Northwestern graduate captain told head coach Tracey Fuchs afterward: “When I come back, we’ve got them.”
Two years later, Zimmer and Northwestern stuck to her words, overcoming No. 1 North Carolina 4-3 in a comeback NCAA semi-finals win Friday
afternoon.
For about 58 minutes and 50 seconds, it seemed like that was not the case. In fact, for the pessimists out there, the game looked over well before the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels scored on their first trip to the goal circle off a Ryleigh Heck redirect, and then did it again with Kara Heck on a penalty corner to go up 2-0 with 7:18 left in the first.
Even when Northwestern began pushing back on North Carolina’s advances, a possible comeback was never fully in its grasp until the end. NU’s Maja Zivojnovic’s late-second-quarter score preceded UNC’s Isabel Boere returning the favor, putting the Wildcats down two goals for the second instance — this time, with less time.
When Northwestern pulled goalie Juliana Boon late in the fourth while down 3-2, every UNC offensive possession felt like a possible insurance goal. NU players and fans alike got increasingly animated over no-calls as the sky darkened, the actual hockey being played falling out of the team’s grasp. Even after the ‘Cats forced overtime, the Tar Heels dominated possession until the last two minutes, drawing three corners compared to NU’s none.
But this is Northwestern field hockey of all squads, and both teams knew that.
“I think we knew, [with] Northwestern, we could never get comfortable,” UNC head coach Erin Matson said. “And props to Northwestern, they never gave up. I think they stayed hungry. They finished the opportunities they needed to; their corners are threatening. We knew that going in, so I think they just executed.”
With each North Carolina gain, Northwestern could have taken a step back. But it kept pushing, and soon enough, seemingly the only noise in Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium was the entire NU cheering section banging on the bleachers every time a Wildcat had the ball.
The obvious major moments in the game were Ilse Tromp’s game-tying goal with 1:10 left in the fourth, and the late overtime sequence of UNC forward Reese Anetsberger’s foot foul by an open cage leading to Grace Schulze’s game-winner. But the thread that tied all the needles together was Zimmer, the person who vowed revenge on the Tar Heels all the while back.
Zimmer, who Matson described as among the “fastest players” the Tar Heels have ever faced, played like someone who didn’t want Friday to be her final college game. She kick-started Northwestern’s comeback run with a rush into the circle, connecting with Olivia Bent-Cole for a sliding goal to cut NU’s deficit to 3-2 late in the third.
“I have no idea how she tipped that in,” Zimmer said of Bent-Cole’s goal. “That was not on the ground, and I am actually so amazed by that, but I think that’s really a turning point for us. That was, ‘okay, we’re one goal away.‘”
No. 8 continued to initiate after Bent-Cole’s goal, playing key roles in the aforementioned major moments. She made the pass to Sessa that drew the late-fourth-quarter corner, and then perfectly executed a behind-the-back pass that set up Tromp’s goal. Northwestern barely had possession in overtime, but Zimmer capitalized on a rare opportunity, weaving through defenders with one hand on her stick and passing to Schulze for the final goal.
This string of big plays isn’t surprising from Zimmer, a two-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and Northwestern’s ultimate veteran who always excels when it matters the most. But the Wildcats leaned on the aptitude of their entire squad to claw toward victory.
“I thought we were playing well. They came in one time and scored, and then got a corner and scored. And that could really, really deflate a team,” Fuchs said. “But when you have people like [Zimmer and Ashley Sessa], people like Grace and Maja and Ilse, I trusted that they weren’t going to throw the game plan out the window.”
Northwestern and North Carolina are always highly motivated to play each other, and everyone is aware of it. UNC defender Sietske Brüning acknowledged that facing the ‘Cats lit a fire within her team, while the personal horrors of the 2023 title game still linger in Fuchs’ mind. Northwestern waited all season to get back at Carolina in its 2024 title run, but just missed out. Friday’s game was just another epic resulting from the decade’s two best teams facing off.
The weight of the moment was obvious as the final whistle blew, when Northwestern’s entire team dogpiled onto the ground and then belted the NU fight song to the bleachers. Zimmer and Ella Kokinis embraced each other on the blue turf, perhaps knowing that they’d have one more game left as teammates. When asked about Sunday’s title game, Fuchs first emphasized her gratitude to make it there in the first place.
At the same time, Northwestern is more than capable of taking that one final step, and its continuity proves it. No team has made five consecutive title games since Old Dominion from 1988 to 1992. Its opponent, the Princeton Tigers, were the only team to beat the ‘Cats this season and haven’t lost since September. But the Wildcats are the more experienced postseason team, and absolutely have what it takes to avenge that earlier loss and win back-to-back titles for the first time.
A victory would officially cement Northwestern as a dynasty, with three titles in five years. Zimmer, arguably the best player in program history, will get to close out her career on top, as well as other graduating Wildcats like captains Aerin Krys and Greta Hinke. 60 minutes (and maybe more) must be played to get there, but any concerns that this team wasn’t battle-tested enough were thrown out the window against the Tar Heels.
“One thing about our team is that we never give up,” Zimmer said. “You could see it even in the first huddle. We’re down 2-0 the first quarter — not exactly how you would like to start, but we were able to claw our way back, stick to what we do best. I would like to not have such a stressful game, but I could not be prouder of how we pulled through.”
