Despite coming off back-to-back victories at home against No. 2 Maryland and No. 18 Rutgers, Northwestern (16-2, 7-1 B1G) was unable to score Friday afternoon at No. 14 Penn State (12-5, 6-2 B1G), falling 2-0 in their final game of the regular season for its first regular-season loss Big Ten loss since 2022.
Coming into the matchup, Penn State was ranked third in Big Ten standings, while Northwestern held the top spot and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association’s No. 1 ranking.
At the start of
the game, both teams were evenly matched in possession of the ball, with the Nittany Lions testing the walls of Northwestern’s usually strong offensive press.
Possession went back and forth, with both teams struggling to get shots on goal and the first half ended scoreless.
At the beginning of the third, the Wildcats had a strong offensive push but were still unable to shift their possession to a goal. Later in the period, Northwestern saved Penn State’s initial attempt on a penalty corner, but the Nittany Lions were quick to rebound the ball and sophomore midfielder Cooper Cutchins scored the first goal of the game.
The Wildcats came back out in the fourth quarter with strong motivation and offensive possession in hopes of erasing the one-goal lead, but were still unsuccessful. Instead, it was Penn State that got on the board again, as freshman defender Lilly Holmes scored her first goal of the season off a penalty corner attempt.
Holmes’ goal secured the Nittany Lions’ victory, the program’s second-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team and its first win over Northwestern since 2021.
Despite the loss, the ‘Cats outshot the Nittany Lions 9-6 with senior forward Ashley Sessa and junior midfielder Laura Salamanca each having three shots on goal.
And, the loss does not mark the end of Northwestern’s season. Northwestern will now turn its attention to the Big Ten Tournament, which will take place from Nov. 4-8 in Columbus, Ohio. NU enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed and will receive a first-round bye. The Wildcats will face the winner of the No. 4 Rutgers vs. No. 5 Indiana matchup on Nov. 6 at 12 p.m CDT.
The ‘Cats also still likely have the NCAA Tournament ahead of them and are still very much in the running to defend their back-to-back national championships.
