Well, it’s been a rather eventful week in field hockey. We covered the immediate aftermath of Northwestern’s controversial NCAA Tournament draw , and we will be writing about said tournament in the coming
days. But in this week’s column, we’re going to focus on Northwestern’s 2025 Big Ten Tournament victory after its 5-3 win over No. 16 Michigan in the semifinals and a 3-0 shutout of No. 9 Iowa in the finals.
Things are getting fun now!
For starters, I didn’t fully process Northwestern field hockey’s unseeded status watching the NCAA Tournament selection show. When I saw a “4” appear on my screen and NU’s name appear in a totally different box, my instinct was to assume it was a glitch. I started telling people that the Wildcats had gotten the four-seed.
But then Virginia’s name appeared next to that “4,” and I realized that Northwestern was headed to Charlottesville.
What ensued over the next 24 hours gave Northwestern arguably its biggest spotlight since winning the national title last year. Inside NU’s X mentions were flooded — the only post that garnered more engagement than its field hockey selection show post this fall was the one made following Northwestern football’s upset of Penn State.
Steve Kirschner, father of Northwestern starter Emilie Kirschner, made an X post about the situation, which garnered over 400 likes. Penn State alum and U.S. Olympian Sophia Gladieux posted a TikTok — currently with over 45,000 views — criticizing the reliance on RPI rankings that likely contributed to Northwestern’s tournament position.
If Northwestern was already a compelling storyline as the reigning national champion, it is now arguably far and away the biggest storyline of the tournament before it kicks off. The team that won it all a year prior isn’t usually an underdog, but the Wildcats now have the opportunity to play that role — a role they rode all the way to their first national championship in 2021. And while I expect head coach Tracey Fuchs to guide her squad away from outside chatter, I don’t think an “us against the world” mentality is going to hurt NU.
Bracket discourse aside, let’s not lose the plot. That plot is Northwestern reclaiming its Big Ten tournament throne with wins against two very competitive opponents. Its semifinal contest against Michigan was up and down and highlighted some defensive lapses, but it was important to get the monkey off its back after five straight postseason losses to the Wolverines. The ‘Cats’ win against Iowa, another former postseason hurdle, was arguably one of the best performances I’ve seen from them all season despite a scoreless first half.
Let’s talk about what stood out in Northwestern’s journey toward its second out of three possible trophies in 2025.
Triple Threat
There’s an argument to be made that Northwestern’s starting forwards are the strongest group it has had in several years. While Ashley Sessa and Olivia Bent-Cole were both stars last season, the third person who played alongside them was a rotation of players like Regan Cornelius, Chloe Relford and Elaine Velthuizen. All of them contributed, but nobody matched Sessa or Bent-Cole’s minutes.
But with the emergence of Grace Schulze this year, Northwestern has a trio of All-Big Ten-caliber forwards, all of whom have had their shining moments and played over 1,000 minutes even before the NCAA Tournament.
Like I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Sessa’s level has risen tremendously as of late. She’s known for posting up in front of the cage and scoring goals from close range, but her five first-half shots against Iowa showcased a player who could make something out of nothing with the chances she generated (including a play where she popped a ball up past two defenders with her stick). Her assist to Schulze’s goal also impressed, but what stood out the most to me in Bloomington was Sessa’s work rate — how well she was playing in coverage and preventing the ball from going to the opposing defense.
Both Schulze and Bent-Cole complement Sessa’s scoring extremely well. Schulze was the star of the show as tournament MVP, contributing three goals, an assist and a defensive save across two games. While her teammates take more shots, Schulze knows how to finish them better than anyone, as her 33.3% shooting percentage is the highest among Northwestern’s starters. That showed against the Hawkeyes, when she was the one to put the ball in the net after NU’s 10 previous missed shots — a goal that showcased her chemistry with Sessa, as well.
Commentators repeatedly highlight how Bent-Cole adapted to Sessa’s arrival. As the nation’s top recruit, there was a path for Bent-Cole to become Northwestern’s top scorer had Sessa not transferred. But instead of diminishing, No. 3 instead found ways to contribute beyond scoring — a big reason why she returned to First-Team All-Big Ten status. That showed through her speed, her ability to get in front of long aerials and the penalty corners she drew, like the one that led to Northwestern’s insurance goal in the fourth quarter against the Hawkeyes.
Compared to last season, the Wildcats have lost depth in some areas. That’s certainly not the case with their three up top.
Stifling Press
In my first column of the season, I highlighted how Northwestern dominated Richmond and VCU by barely allowing them opportunities to have the ball. It’s one thing to do that against much worse opponents, but then to do it again against two of the Big Ten’s best is another.
Part of the reason why Northwestern’s defense was a concern against Michigan was that the Wolverines weren’t getting the ball that much. The offense kept possession with look after look, and the ball rarely got past the midfield line. But if it did, Michigan capitalized. It scored on its first major possession of the day, and two of the four corners it drew resulted in goals. At halftime, when Fuchs was asked about how the Wildcats kept the ball away from the Wolverines for so long, she rightfully highlighted that her opponents shouldn’t be scoring on the rare occasion that they receive the ball.
Against Iowa, Northwestern’s possession dominance combined with an improved ability to clean up defensively against a team that’s lethal in transition. ‘Cats goalie Juliana Boon, who recorded a 0% save percentage against the Wolverines, stopped a point-blank shot from Fréderique van Cleef in the second quarter — one of Iowa’s first real offensive opportunities during the game. In addition, the Hawkeyes drew zero penalty corners all game, despite being ranked in the top 10 in penalty corner conversion rate as of last week.
In the NCAA tournament, Northwestern will face stronger offenses than it has faced all season. The key will be to stop them before and after they start.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week — Grace Schulze, graduate forward: Case in point with my “Triple Threat” section, but Schulze proved this past weekend that she could hold her own in the Sessa-Bent-Cole-Schulze attacking trio. The Big Ten Tournament MVP performed when it mattered most, recording goals to put Northwestern up 1-0 and then 3-2 against the Wolverines and then adding a defensive save when Maddie Zimmer — arguably NU’s biggest weapon on corner defense — was on the bench. Then, against Iowa, she was the first Wildcat to score right out of the second half after several other attackers had trouble finishing shots in the first.
Play of the Week: Air Sessa is at it again. Just two weeks after she hit a ball into the cage baseball-style, she leapt to field Schulze’s pass and pushed it into the goal cage. I’m not exactly sure how high the ball went, but the fact that Sessa reached for it from that height at 5-foot-3 is extremely impressive.
Around the NCAA
- Perhaps a catalyst of this seeding controversy was the Ivy League Tournament final, in which No. 2-seed Princeton defeated No. 1 Harvard 2-1. Among the several outcomes resulting from this final, one of them was that the Crimson are no longer undefeated — meaning there are no Division I teams without a loss.
- Most of the conference tournament winners aren’t surprising, but the Patriot League is a different story. There, No. 4-seeded Boston University made a Cinderella run to the title, defeating No. 1 American and No. 2 Lafayette to qualify for its first NCAA Tournament since 2018.
- Based on the NCAA’s selection rankings, No. 13 UConn and No. 12 Yale were the final two at-large teams to get in. Fellow No. 13 Massachusetts, which is 16-4 with a 2-1 loss to 11-8 UConn, was the first team out.
- No. 11 Miami-Ohio is on a heater, currently riding a seven-game win streak that dates back to Oct. 10. It upset No. 1-seeded Massachusetts to claim the MAC Tournament title and will be in the same region as Northwestern. However, it faces an uphill battle, as it plays Virginia in its opening-round match.
What’s Next?
Northwestern will embark on its first early-round NCAA Tournament road trip in four years later this week, facing Yale on Friday in Charlottesville at 1:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are 12-5 and arguably the third-best team in the Ivy League, but they haven’t faced a Big Ten or ACC team since Sept. 10, 2023. If the Wildcats win on Friday, they will await either UVA or Miami for a Sunday quarterfinal game. With NU beating both teams at Lakeside Field in 2024, it would be primed for a rematch regardless of who wins.
