Boy, was it a fun weekend in Newton.
It’s great to have Ashley Sessa and Olivia Bent-Cole back, but the biggest story here was the resiliency displayed by Northwestern.
This team has all the grit that last year’s squad displayed. Just like last year, it’s being tested early, and it’s checking all the boxes of a championship-winning roster.
Let’s catch you up on what went down.
Friday, Sept. 4 vs. No. 6 Duke
Sessa looks like the sharpest player in the nation following her World Cup hiatus, and her return to Northwestern purple was
as loud as one could imagine.
This goal just 10 minutes into the game was absolutely ridiculous. One of the best of her storied career. She’s always been a star from the left side of the cage, but this goal was special.
Against the No. 6 team in the nation, the ‘Cats offense had their way with 14 shots on goal — a season high — on 19 total attempts and drew nine penalty corners. With a fully healthy attack, goalkeepers around the country are going to be put under duress when they’re forced to play a Wildcats squad that forces their way into the circle at will.
“We didn’t have two of our top players in week one…them coming back into the lineup is exciting,” said head coach Tracey Fuchs. “We’re growing for sure. I think each and every game, we’ve gotten a little better, solidified some areas and now we’re getting into a consistency with our rotation.”
A quick sidebar here that fits into this weekend’s story:
If we’ve discovered anything about the starting XI this weekend, it’s that Jess Freedman and Sol Martinez are the two fresh additions to keep tabs on this year.
The former joined NU in the spring of this year, ahead of her sophomore campaign and it was a much-needed experience that helped her find her niche in the system.
“She just works incredibly hard,” said Fuchs. “She’s great on the defensive side of the ball and really growing on the attack side of the ball.”
As for the latter, who put away Friday’s game winner, her international experience has made her fit for prime time according to Coach Fuchs. “She’s got some really good skills and has also gotten better and better each game. [She’s] that playmaker in the midfield for us.”
Beyond the game winner itself, there’s some masterful stick work from Piper Borz that sets up this opportunity for Martinez. When it comes to understanding NU tactics, Borz might be the most underrated threat on both ends of the field.
“Piper’s had a great preseason. It’s been really, really consistent,” Fuchs said. “She gets her shot off quickly, she understands our tactical defense really, really well and is really good in the attack circle.”
That shot came after a pair of penalty-corner goals from Ilse Tromp (marking her first brace of the season), which helped erase a two-goal deficit Northwestern faced in the back half of regulation.
“It’s great,” Fuchs said about facing an elevated level of adversity just three games in. “We have 10 newcomers that are putting on the jersey in the fall for the first time, so you never know how they’re going to react…We knew we were getting the chances, and we were hoping eventually they’d fall and they finally did in the fourth. Really happy with our resilience and our relentlessness to come back and win that game in overtime.”
Sunday, Sept. 6 vs. Boston College
The most notable thing in the score sheet, in my opinion, was the donut that the Eagles were left with at day’s end. It goes to show how much it pays to have a back line with experience in the system — a back line that knows how to play together.
Coach Fuchs’ words, not mine.
With Tromp, Kerry McCormick and Emilie Kirschner anchoring the defense, life gets much easier for her. Why? Because they’ve led the charge in NU’s trio of clean sheets in the young season.
Knowing that her starters will take care of business allows her to give some new faces a chance. One prominent name to keep in mind off the bench is Bree Moffett.
“She’s been fantastic [in] her first year coming in and into a tough position. And honestly, she’s played really, really well, and we’re looking forward to her continued growth.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Sessa continued to shine with another nifty score.
She’s looked stellar since returning. Big Ten Player of the Year potential.
But the cherry on top of the weekend was the same set piece that intrigued me in the first week of the season — Laura Salamanca to Tromp in space to rifle a shot.
In the season opener against VCU, the Wildcats ran this same concept.
The difference between these two plays is the personnel that’s available. Sessa being back in the mix makes a world of a difference.
“It was really tough the first weekend because Sessa is our No. 1 inserter, and her speed on the ball gives them more time up top to shoot the ball,” said Fuchs. “Having her back is only going to add to [our corners].”
Sessa’s strong insert is exactly what the ‘Cats need on the corner to give its attack multiple options before the defense closes out on them. With the extra second to make a decision, Salamanca can make an accurate flip to Tromp to line up her shot. Money.
“Anytime we can have Lau either shoot or fake a shot and give it to Ilse, it just gives her more time to shoot and maybe have less defenders in front of her.”
Everyone in the nation is marking Tromp. She’s far and away NU’s top option on the corner.
So naturally, the coaching staff deepens the playbook to get her more unique opportunities to shoot.
“We have probably eight to 10 plays where we’re not just shooting on goal,” Fuchs said. “We’re passing around, whether we’re going back to the insert or to some of our other players. But those two are our mainstays up top.”
Salamanca is the perfect fit as the facilitator up top, according to Fuchs. “Ilse obviously has a great drag flick and Lau can both sweep and hit the ball,” she said. ”[Our opponents] have to scout three different ways we can score, which is really good for us.“
Fuchs has always preached the 20% mark as the goal on the penalty corner. The more plays a team has, the better its odds of hitting that mark.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week: Ashley Sessa | F | Sr.
I apologize for taking the low-hanging fruit, but it’d be wrong for me to overlook the captain after a six-point weekend to open her season.
A pair of nifty scores, insert looking as strong as ever and leadership growth like unlike anything seen before. She was expected to be one of the best players in the nation this season, but she may be the measuring stick in 2026.
Unit of the Week: Front Line
NU’s attack turned its resiliency up to the max when faced with adversity in both games, but rattled off 23 shots on goal over the weekend to find its breakthroughs against two quality ACC opponents. The defense took a bit longer to settle in this past weekend than in week one, but the offense reacted and took the brunt of the responsibility in Chestnut Hill. Two very encouraging wins, powered by great offensive sets.
Play of the Week: Sol Martinez’s Game Winner
What else could it possibly be?
Martinez put her first career goal in the back of the cage against a true dark-horse Final Four contender to beat the Blue Devils in overtime. Great play, great communication and it showed how well this team is starting to gel heading into conference play.
What’s next?
Two more ranked opponents — the last ranked opponents on the ‘Cats schedule, one of whom, No. 14 Louisville, nearly upended Northwestern early on last season in a nail-biter.
The Cardinals come into Evanston also winners of their first four contests of the year and potentially more battle-tested than the ‘Cats, including a season-opening win over preseason No. 10-ranked Miami (OH) and a 2-1 overtime dub over Indiana. Gigi Edwards is back for her senior season and is cooking with two goals and an assist to tie for a team-leading five points.
The Redhawks, now the nation’s No. 16, bounced back after their loss to Louisville with a 2-1 win of their own over the Hoosiers and a 6-0 trouncing of Michigan State. The last time these two teams met was in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville, an instant classic 3-2 win for NU. This season, Malena Sabez and Justina Intzes, Miami’s leading scorers from a season ago, haven’t come out of the starting blocks as fast, as eight different Redhawks have multiple points through three games.
These games aren’t to be overlooked. These aren’t top-10 opponents, but they are NCAA Tournament hopefuls that see the Wildcats as the perfect resume booster for an at-large bid. It’s time to lock in.
The ‘Cats face Louisville on Friday and Miami on Sunday, both start times set for 2 p.m. CT. The games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).
