The Wildcats are two wins away from a national title, but the road will be difficult along the way.
On Friday, No. 2 Northwestern field hockey begins the final stages of its NCAA Tournament run with a match against Massachusetts in the semi-finals at 2:00 p.m. CST. Here’s what to look out for in Ann Arbor:
NCAA Semifinals: vs. No. 14 UMass
The Minutewomen are the Cinderella story of the NCAA Tournament. After losing to Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic-10 championship game, they made the tournament as an at-large bid. However, they went on a tear during the tournament’s first weekend, upsetting No. 3 Connecticut 2-1 in the second round. Then, they beat No. 10 Harvard 1-0 in the quarterfinals, avenging their loss to the Crimson via a penalty shootout in the regular season and making their first Final Four since 1992.
Northwestern defeated UMass 6-1 in its second game of the year and tallied its highest goal total of the regular season. However, given how UMass has progressed throughout the season, that earlier result should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Minutewomen may not seem like a statistically imposing team on the surface, but the numbers they put up in recent games tell another story. The team’s defense held Harvard and UConn, two teams that average double-digit shots per game, to just three and four shots respectively. Given that Northwestern tends to rely on taking an enormous amount of shots to generate offensive opportunities, it must be able to convert well against UMass’ stingy defense. The Wildcats struggled against defense-heavy teams like Michigan — they need to learn from their mistakes to advance past UMass.
NU cannot be complacent against UMass either. All of the Minutewomen goals scored against UConn and Harvard came in the fourth quarter. In the first game, they roared back from a 1-0 deficit. Even if the Wildcats are in the lead, they must be on high alert at all times.
Although UMass hasn’t faced a team of Northwestern’s caliber in November yet, the team has proven that it deserves to be in Ann Arbor, and it shouldn’t be overlooked.
NCAA Championship Game vs. No. 3 Saint Joseph’s or No. 1 North Carolina
If Northwestern were to beat UMass, it would face Saint Joe’s or UNC in the national title game.
Saint Joe’s had a relatively straightforward path to championship weekend, defeating No. 20 Lafayette and No. 13 Princeton 1-0 in the second round and quarterfinals respectively. Against both teams, the Hawks scored in the final 11 minutes of the game.
However, despite low-scoring NCAA Tournament games, Saint Joe’s has one of the top offenses in the nation. It ranks third among Division I teams in goals per game (3.59) and margin of victory (2.51), just behind UNC and Northwestern. The Hawks also had a gauntlet out-of-conference schedule, with multiple Big Ten and ACC wins on their schedule. This includes a 5-2 win against Virginia, a team that took Northwestern to overtime last weekend.
The Hawks have a very balanced offense, with players like Lily Santi, Manu Ghigilotti, Julia Duffhuis, and Erika Culp all scoring double-digit goals. This contrasts with Northwestern, where Ashley Sessa is the only player in double figures with 23 goals.
Meanwhile, Northwestern’s other possible title game opponent is UNC. This is the matchup that everyone has been waiting for, between the two teams that have been trading the No. 1 ranking in the polls throughout the season.
Of course, the Tar Heels defeated the Wildcats in the last two NCAA title games, with the most recent one going to a penalty shootout. And coming into the Final Four, they are arguably the only team who can say they are objectively better than the Wildcats. UNC blew past its opponents in the earlier stages of the tournament, defeating Delaware 4-0 and then No. 9 Duke 3-0. UNC has a 20-0 record and only had two wins decided by a single goal — unlike Northwestern, which had six of such games.
The Tar Heels also lead the nation in several stat categories, including goals per game (4.00), win margin (3.74), assists per game (3.60) and shutouts per game (0.60). If Northwestern were to meet them in the title game, it’s going to take a generational performance to stop the Tar Heels from repeating what they did in 2022 and 2023.
A Northwestern against UNC matchup would also be a clash between Titans. The Wildcats are the only NCAA team with multiple USA Olympians — Ashley Sessa and Maddie Zimmer. They also have goalie Annabel Skubisz, who leads the NCAA in save percentage (0.853). Sessa leads the nation in points per game (2.86), and would face her former team if she meets UNC in the title game.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels are headlined by names like Charly Bruder, the nation’s leading scorer, and 2023 Honda Award winner Ryleigh Heck — who scored the game-winning penalty stroke in last year’s title game against Northwestern. And of course, the team is coached by Erin Matson, who made national headlines for winning a national title as a player and coach in back-to-back years.