The Wildcats came out of the early season non-conference slate undefeated.
The No. 1 ranked Northwestern Field Hockey team added two more games to its win tally last weekend, taking down No. 9 Louisville and Cornell on the road. The Wildcats improve to 6-0 to start the season, with five of those wins being shutouts. The team has been on a dominant run to start the year, outscoring its opponents 15-1.
At No. 9 Louisville, September 13
Northwestern avenged its only regular season loss of 2023 last Friday, defeating Louisville 2-0.
Sophomore Ashley Sessa started things off early, scoring the game’s first goal 11 minutes in after being assisted by freshman Elaine Velthuizen, who recorded her first career point. Northwestern then survived a second-quarter offensive onslaught from Louisville, who outshot the Wildcats 4-0 in this 15-minute frame. However, fifth-year goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz stepped up, saving two of those four shots.
NU started off the third quarter with more scoring. After missing on two consecutive penalty corners, the Wildcats got the job done after being awarded a third corner, with fifth-year Katie Jones finding the back of the net off of an Ilse Tromp assist. In the fourth quarter, Northwestern held Louisville to just one shot and left the Cardinals goalless to secure the win.
At Cornell, September 14
The scoring didn’t come easy in this neutral site “battle of the brains” matchup last Saturday, as it took a last-minute goal from Tromp for NU to win the game.
Although Northwestern outshot Cornell 20-8 in this game and had 13 penalty corners compared to Cornell’s four, those opportunities were not being converted. For example, in the second quarter, NU had three consecutive penalty corners but couldn’t score on any of them. In addition, Cornell goalie Martha Broderick did her part to slow the Wildcats down, recording eight saves.
But the continued pressure that the Northwestern offense put on was too much for Cornell in the fourth quarter. NU shot the ball eight times in the final 15 minutes, and the final shot sealed the deal. With 36 seconds left, Tromp scored off an assist from Sessa and senior Lauren Hunter to help the Wildcats to a 1-0 victory. Sessa also recorded her fifth assist of the season — her three goals and five assists have her leading the team in total points (11).
What’s Next?
Northwestern will start Big Ten conference play next, facing Iowa on Friday at home before traveling to Bloomington to take on Indiana on the road.