Every team that has played No. 2 Northwestern at Lakeside Field since August 27, 2023, has lost.
After defeating No. 9 Harvard 3-2, the Wildcats (13-0, 5-0 Big Ten) extended their home winning streak to 16 games Sunday.
The Crimson (10-2, 4-0 Ivy League) was the eighth-ranked opponent NU has defeated this season and the fifth within the top ten of the NFHCA rankings.
Sophomore forward Olivia Bent-Cole, sophomore forward Ashley Sessa and senior midfielder Maddie Zimmer scored for the ’Cats, who remain undefeated with five games left in the regular season.
“I feel like (Harvard) is a top-five team,” NU coach Tracey Fuchs said. “We knew this was going to be a good battle, and it was.”
The ’Cats struck first after Bent-Cole made a deke in the shooting circle and wrapped a shot around Harvard goalkeeper Tessa Shahbo.
Bent-Cole’s goal was her fifth of the year. The Philadelphia native has had an impressive campaign thus far, building upon a First-Team All-Big Ten nod last year.
“When Liv is on, she’s on, working hard on both sides of the ball,” Fuchs said. “She really creates havoc.”
The Crimson answered a minute later when forward Kate Oliver played a stretch pass toward forward Sage Piekarski. Piekarski took the pass in stride and found herself within a 1-on-1 situation with NU goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz. Piekarski, holding all the leverage in the situation, equalized for the visitors.
Fuchs said her squad plays a defense located higher on the field than the traditional field hockey positioning because of the faith the ’Cats have in Skubisz, who is ranked second in the nation in goals against average. Because of this, Fuchs said, Piekarski was able to sneak behind the defense and score.
NU mustered five penalty corners in the first frame but couldn’t find a second goal.
Sessa scored with three minutes remaining in the first half to put the ’Cats up 2-1. After bolting into the shooting circle, Sessa flicked a shot over Shahbo that clinked into the top netting. NU has allowed seven goals this season. Sessa has scored a team-high 13.
Zimmer’s goal came midway through the third quarter. The Olympian weaved through traffic, stickhandling from the center line into the shooting circle before blasting a low-angle shot past Shahbo to make the score 3-1.
“Both of those guys have the green light to shoot from wherever they are,” Fuchs said of Sessa and Zimmer.
Harvard put together a last-gasp offensive effort through the fourth quarter, outshooting NU 4-1 in the final period. With six minutes left in the contest, a shot resulting from a Harvard penalty corner hit the woodwork. Three minutes later, Harvard’s Lara Beekhuis corralled a rebound and cut the deficit to 3-2.
With less than three minutes remaining in the contest, the Crimson pulled their goalie and launched a frenetic offensive onslaught that included a penalty corner.
NU weathered the Crimson storm and walked away with the win, continuing its case for being recognized as the best team in the country.
The ’Cats maintained offensive dominance throughout the match, outshooting Harvard 18-8. This has been a theme all season: NU has outshot its opponents 227-106 so far this year.
“We knew we were going to be a high-powered attacking team this year with a really solid defense,” Fuchs said. “Because our defense is so good, we’re able to take more chances, and we’ll just keep continuing to do that next weekend.”
Next weekend for the ’Cats: a clash with Stanford on Friday and a matchup with UC Davis on Sunday. Neither team is ranked. Provided it continues its winning ways, NU has the opportunity to reach its best start in program history – 15-0 – by next week’s close.
“We’re really hungry,” Bent-Cole said. “We’re just hungry to make it to a national championship again and win this time. I think that’s a main goal for everyone.”
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