Coming off a dominant 3-0 victory against Indiana, the field hockey team will face Maryland on Sunday in a rematch of a Top-2 clash on October 22nd. If Northwestern wins, it will be the Big Ten tournament champions for three of the last four years and bolster its chance of a third consecutive national championship. It would also be its sixth consecutive national championship appearance.
But with so much pressure on this team to win the Big Ten and then the Natty, the Wildcats can’t get too far ahead
of themselves. And though they beat the Terrapins 4-2 in their regular-season matchup, that game was far closer than the score would suggest, with Maryland leading for almost a third of the game. While the Terrapins have owned the historic matchup between these two teams, Northwestern is 6-1 in this matchup over the last 25 years at neutral sites such as Columbus, where this game will be played.
So what can the Wildcats do to ensure a repeat of their biggest win of the season while getting some new hardware on top of that? Here are three keys for Sunday.
Let Ashley Sessa Cook
Sessa, the senior, has been one of the ‘Cats’ best players for each of the last two seasons, and she showed that in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament with one goal and one assist. That performance ended a rough streak for Sessa, where she scored just one goal with two assists over the last five games. During Sessa’s cold streak, the Wildcats were a relatively paltry 3-2, including a disappointing loss to Penn State.
Maryland was able to shut down Sessa in their previous matchup, allowing just a single shot on goal from the All-American. Sessa’s shot is one of the best in the game, with 20% of her shots finding the back of the net. If Northwestern can get her some space, she will make some big things happen for the ‘Cats.
Defend the corner
In the last matchup between these teams, Northwestern allowed two goals on Maryland’s first two penalty corners of the game. It is very possible that that was just a fluke, and indeed Northwestern didn’t allow a goal for Maryland’s next five penalty corners. They also didn’t allow a single penalty corner goal against Indiana’s nine chances.
But if they can’t defend the corner, it will be a steep uphill battle for Northwestern to win. IF they can defend the corner against the Terrapins as well as they did against the Hoosiers (and many other teams this season), then they will be on track for a Big Ten championship.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, adjustments Head Coach Tracey Fuchs will make to the ‘Cats’ penalty corner defense or whether Maryland’s prowess at that spot last month turns out to have just been dumb luck.
Own the second half (and beyond)
Both of Northwestern’s two losses this season have come against go-ahead goals in the second half or overtime. When they’ve won close games, they’ve had the go-ahead goal well into the second half. It took overtime to topple Duke and Iowa, and the go-ahead goals against Rutgers and Maryland had to wait until deep in the fourth quarter.
That’s not a bug of the Northwestern system; it’s a feature. This game will not be over at halftime. It will almost definitely be tied or have a one-goal difference. That means the second half, and specifically the fourth quarter, is when the offense needs to be able to come alive for that final push. It’s worked against some of the best teams in the nation, and the Wildcats hope it will work once again against the Terrapins.
Tune in to Big Ten Network at 11 AM CT on Sunday to see if Northwestern will win the Big Ten tournament.
