In a comeback victory, Northwestern field hockey topples UNC 4-3 to book title game trip

The NCAA Division I Final Four would end a season-long debate in the world of field hockey: who is the true No. 1?

Northwestern (21-1, 8-0 B1G) and North Carolina (21-3, 7-1 ACC) had been splitting first-place votes in the NFHCA Coaches Poll all year, the former starting 2025 atop the rankings, the latter jumping the ‘Cats in the week seven poll, claiming the top spot by the margin of a single vote.

The Tar Heels held that prestige since Oct. 21, but fell exactly to the ‘Cats one month later. Northwestern got the best of UNC in a 4-3 NCAA semi-final win, overcoming a 2-0 deficit and scoring in the final minute of regulation to secure an overtime victory.

The foundation of the ‘Cats 2025 roster shined, with Olivia Bent-Cole, Maja Zivojnovic, Ilse Tromp, and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Ashley Sessa all finding the net. Maddie Zimmer assisted on two of the ‘Cats four goals, while Sessa scored the game-winner.

The ‘Cats logged the first shot attempt of the contest. Kate Jannsen missed wide of the cage, but Northwestern kept the pressure high, forcing some early defensive activity from UNC goalkeeper Katie Wimmer. The ball stayed inside UNC’s 25 for much of the first four minutes of the game.

North Carolina scored on its first opportunity inside the circle. Ryleigh Heck’s backhanded shot from the top of the circle caught Juliana Boon off guard, yielding the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead with 10:42 to go in the first quarter.

It took four minutes and change for NU to find itself in danger again — on the defending end of a penalty corner — at it proved to be lethal for the ‘Cats, as the Heels cashed in for their second goal. Ryleigh’s older sister, Kara Heck, got herself in on the action with a redirect of Isabel Boere’s shot to double her squad’s advantage.

Coming into Friday, Northwestern had allowed only four goals in the first period all season, meaning North Carolina had its adversaries in deep waters it hadn’t experienced all year.

The Wildcats opened the second with another great scoring opportunity with a penalty corner just 30 seconds in. However, Ashley Sessa’s insertion was misplayed by Olivia Bent-Cole, subsequently flipping the possession arrow back in UNC’s direction.

Following the corner, Northwestern continued to struggle against the North Carolina defense, constantly getting blocked from penetrating the circle and having its passes intercepted throughout the first seven minutes of the quarter. The pressure applied by the ACC champions threw a wrench into the ‘Cats offense in the first half, causing consistent miscommunication and errant passes, a prime example being an outlet pass a touch too far for Bent-Cole to handle on a 2-1 Northwestern fastbreak.

Maja Zivoinivic gave ‘Cats faithful life with 2:15 left in the first half, capitalizing on her team’s third corner of the game to cut the lead to one. The senior back was assisted by Sessa — the inserter, and Bent-Cole — the stick stopper.

Boon denied North Carolina an opportunity to match the Northwestern score just before halftime, blocking and sending Charly Bruder’s penalty corner shot out of bounds and over the sideline to keep the deficit at 2-1 for the ‘Cats.

The start of the third quarter saw the ball traveling into the Northwestern attacking third quite often, but the ‘Cats defensive faults carried over into second-half action. The Heels had their first corner of the half at the 10:12 mark and used some masterful trickery to score, as Bruder faked a penalty corner shot following the insertion. She sent a backhand pass to Boere, who found the right side of the net to put the Heels up 3-1.

Tracey Fuchs felt the pressure and opted to flex in Sessa as a scoring option on Northwestern’s next three penalty corners, swapping her with Grace Schulze in her set pieces. The change, sparked by Fuchs’ sense of urgency, was to no benefit for NU, as North Carolina snuffed out each developing play in the middle third of the quarter.

NU’s head coach flipped her PC personnel back to status quo, but it made no difference. The ‘Cats finished the quarter 0-for-5 on penalty corners.

The core of Northwestern’s offense took over with three minutes left to go in the third, as Zimmer connected with a sliding Bent-Cole for a huge second score, making the score 3-2 at the end of the 15 minutes.

Before the fourth quarter, the Final Four seemed to closely resemble NU’s upset loss 39 days beforehand. Luckily for the Wildcats, they had another 15 minutes to write the ship, and Bent-Cole took the lead in doing so by drawing an early foul in the circle to give her squad their ninth penalty corner of the day.

The resulting play was far and away the most intense of the day, with both teams scrapping for the ball right in front of the cage. Ultimately, Ilse Tromp’s pop shot missed the mark, and the ‘Cats walked in the opposite direction empty-handed.

From there, the game went stagnant in terms of offensive opportunities, which favored North Carolina. In the blink of an eye, Northwestern found itself grabbing at straws inside the two-minute mark of regulation, and it paid off with yet another penalty corner. With 1:10 to go, Ilse Tromp delivered on the biggest play of her career.

Zimmer again got crafty with her passing to find the junior for the goal.

As play restarted, North Carolina pushed the pace to the max, getting inside the Northwestern 25 and drawing a penalty corner with 50 seconds on the clock.

Northwestern’s backs came to the rescue by blocking the shot and clearing the ball out of the circle. Moments later, the clock struck zero with NU’s championship hopes intact.

In order to turn dreams to reality, the ‘Cats needed to win the race to one in period number five: sudden victory.

With 10 minutes back on the clock, the Tar Heels started with possession, passing in their own territory with patience and poise. Northwestern played soft defense to counteract, with Sessa and Schulze providing occasional pressure.

UNC slowly but surely made their way into the circle, and a sharp-angled Dani Mendez shot forced a sliding Boon to use her stick to bat it away.

However, a ‘Cats foul gave UNC a golden corner opportunity, which was squandered as a Ryleigh Heck shot was deflected over the net, but a trip on the play after gave the Heels another try.

The second chance also went awry for Mendez, missing wide right and giving Northwestern possession.

The ‘Cats had two fastbreak chances at the halfway point, but UNC put on a defensive clinic in their own third of the field, intercepting a Sessa pass on one play and poking the ball from Laura Salamanca the next to keep the game alive.

North Carolina domianted the final three minutes of overtime, once again applying pressure on the ‘Cats defense. A wide-open score from right in front of the cage was wiped away by a foul on a UNC attacker — which proved to be the downfall of the No. 1 seed.

Northwestern came barreling down the field to end the game, and who else but Ashley Sessa, the ‘Cats leading scorer, to net the game-winner, reaching her stick around a defender to redirect a Schulze pass off the board and complete one of the most inspiring comebacks of the season.

Northwestern will take on No. 2 seed Princeton in the National Championship on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT, with ESPNU providing the broadcast.