Six wins for Northwestern. Five of them have been lockdown outings. Four have been shutouts.
The Wildcats have allowed only four scores this season, three of which came against then-No. 6 Duke.
Other opponents? They’re mightily struggling to sniff the cage. Northwestern’s foes not named “Duke” are averaging 4.4 shots on goal per game. In comparison, the ‘Cats rattle off double that number against them.
Everyone knew that the purple juggernaut wasn’t going anywhere in 2026, but right now, we’re seeing
an absolute machine that could run the table completely this fall. This past weekend hinted at that sentiment.
Let’s catch you up on what went down.
Friday, Sept. 11 vs. No. 11 Louisville
Two things separate Northwestern’s attack from many others in elite company: transition offense and set pieces. That’s what told the story of the game on one end of the field.
On the other, the brick wall that is Juliana Boon seemed to be sending shots into the stratosphere on a consistent basis. The Cardinals stood no chance with the Wildcats this focused in the preseason.
Piper Borz is one of the best ball handlers on the team, and sets up Kiera Sack beautifully for her first career goal.
But what’s not shown in this clip is two things: Lindsey Brown and Bree Moffett converging on a Louisville attacker to create the turnover for NU to push and the outlet pass from Ella Kokinis to give it a 3-on-2 opportunity inside the 25.
Kokinis starred in this contest and deserves her flowers. Although she didn’t get the credit for the assist on the first score, she created an opportunity to get credited for the second with her hustle on the penalty corner — taking initiative by moving into open space for a pass after a save from Emily Young,
The most impressive part of this entire play is the wherewithal she has to find Sol Martinez through traffic for the shot from point blank range. This could’ve easily went the other way for Louisville without her vision.
Ilse Tromp put this one away with a penalty corner on the south end of the field in the third quarter on the simplest of PCs for the Wildcats, except Emilie Kirschner provided the stop on this one.
Last season, Maddie Zimmer had this responsibility for Northwestern. This season, it seemed like it was Olivia Bent-Cole’s job. Maybe this isn’t much for ‘Cats faithful to look into, but it’s worth noting.
Meanwhile, Boon had the best performance of her career with a career-high seven saves, knocking away everything in sight.
Momentum was nowhere to be found for Louisville. Not on the PC, not in transition and nowhere inside the circle. Against any other team, it most likely wins a game it plays this well.
Not against Northwestern. Not against (arguably) the best goalkeeper in the nation.
Sunday, Sept. 13 vs. No. 16 Miami (OH)
Remember how I said Boon had her best performance on Friday? Yeah, I lied. It came on Sunday in a game that was even better. Flawless, actually.
I could continue to ramble and ramble about the eight stops she made, but if there’s one that encapsulates the impact she made on Sunday, it’s this one.
It was the Jules Boon show, featuring OBC, who did a lot of the heavy lifting for Northwestern’s two scores to beat the Redhawks this weekend.
First, she turned defense to offense and knocked in this insane deflection to put Northwestern on the board in the second quarter.
Then on a mishandled penalty corner, she shoveled the ball off to Moffett to handle the rest. First career goal for the highly touted recruit.
Bent-Cole has an invaluable impact as the Swiss army knife on this roster with the rare ability to play on all three lines if she wanted to. She’s an aggressive defender that creates turnovers, a stellar passer and a nifty scorer with the ball in her stick. It pays to have her on your roster, especially when opponents key in on Ashley Sessa on the attack.
Two more ranked wins this week. It’s going to take a lot to topple No. 1 this season.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week: Juliana Boon
14 saves in two games is utterly ridiculous. To put this in perspective, Boon’s save percentage over the weekend was a .938. You probably had a better shot at winning the Powerball than scoring a goal on Northwestern this past weekend. After running away with the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year award last year, her 2026 seems to be following the same trajectory, as she’s now run away with the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week.
Unit of the Week: Midfielders
All three lines played extremely well and this decision wasn’t easy to make, but what swayed my mind was the Kokinis assist and Moffett’s first career score. Both of those plays were fantastic and reflect the support they gave the forwards in both games.
Play of the Week: OBC’s deflection vs. No. 16 Miami (OH)
Bent-Cole’s first goal of the year was an extremely fun one to watch — a highlight-reel worthy one that I’m sure will find its way into the end-of-season “One Shining Moment” video for the ‘Cats when 2026 is over. Northwestern isn’t a passive team that waits for the came to come to it. It’s an aggressive squad that goes after its victories. This play encapsulates that perfectly.
What’s Next?
Who doesn’t like a getaway trip to California?
That’s where the ‘Cats are headed to for their final tune-ups before kicking off Big Ten play against Michigan State.
But this getaway is far from a vacation, as they’ll take on a strong Cal team that boasts a 5-0 record, including an road upset over No. 8 Michigan, and the NFHCA Player of the Week Flore Uges. The Golden Bears might be one big victory away from jumping into the polls and after finishing last season at .500, they’re out to make some noise and change the narrative in 2026.
However, NU is taking off at the right time, the question now is how it stays hot through the end of pre-conference play.
