Northwestern field hockey to play for national title for 5th straight year after topping No. 1 North Carolina

The Northwestern field hockey team will play in the Division I national championship game for the fifth consecutive season Sunday.

The defending champion Wildcats beat top-seeded North Carolina 4-3 in sudden-death overtime Friday to complete a comeback victory in a national semifinal in Durham, N.C.

Grace Schulze scored off an assist from Maddie Zimmer in the 10th minute of OT to send Northwestern (21-1) to the final against Princeton at noon CT at Jack Katz Field. The championship game will air on ESPNU.

The Tigers (19-3), who beat Harvard 2-0 in Friday’s other semifinal, won the teams’ previous meeting 3-2 on Oct. 13 in Evanston, Northwestern’s only loss of the season.

“I kind of wish we didn’t have the name Cardiac Cats, but for moments like that I’ll take it,” Zimmer, who had two assists, said on the broadcast.

Late in the overtime period, Zimmer weaved through multiple defenders to hit Schulze with a pass. Schulze’s feed to Northwestern’s Ashley Sessa bounced off the legs of North Carolina’s Sietske Brüning and into the goal. Northwestern players raced across the field to celebrate in a huddle.

The second-seeded Wildcats, who won national titles in 2021 and 2024 under coach Tracey Fuchs, found themselves down 3-1 in the third quarter Friday.

But Olivia Bent-Cole scored late in the third on a Zimmer assist to make it 3-2. Zimmer also flipped a pass behind her to assist on Ilse Tromp’s goal with 1 minute, 10 seconds to play in regulation.

“I really didn’t want my time at Northwestern to be over today,” Zimmer said. “I’m just extremely proud of everything we’ve done. We’ve improved consistently across the course of the season. We played Princeton earlier this season. We’re a different team now, so I’m really excited to have that matchup.”

North Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter behind goals from sisters Ryleigh and Kara Heck. Maja Zivojnovic finally put Northwestern on the scoreboard with 2:15 left to play in the second quarter.

Northwestern goalkeeper Juliana Boon made three saves.