Coach Tracey Fuchs carried calculated confidence into Walter Athletics Center on Wednesday morning, with No. 2-seed Northwestern set to depart for its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament semifinal in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this weekend.
The bus ride east on I-94 toward Ann Arbor is a well-traveled path for the Wildcats (21-1, 8-0 Big Ten), for whom Final Four appearances have become the program norm under Fuchs. NU won its first-ever national title on Michigan’s Phyllis Ocker Field in 2021, taking down Liberty 2-0.
“We’re super excited to be back at Michigan,” graduate student midfielder Lauren Wadas told The Daily on Wednesday. “We say it’s like our second field, and great things happen at Michigan, knock on wood. We’re honestly just super grateful to be back in the Final Four.”
A familiar foe stands between the ’Cats and a potential fourth straight national championship berth. NU faced unseeded UMass in its second game this season, prevailing in a 6-1 blowout on Sept. 1.
But Fuchs said she and her staff know they’re matched up with a much different Minutewomen (17-5, 7-0 Atlantic 10) squad Friday.
“That was so long ago that we didn’t watch hardly any of that film,” Fuchs said. “We’re both different teams at this point. Both our first-years have matured and feel like they’re playing like sophomores. UMass has been on a great roll the last month or so. We know we’re going to have a battle at hand.”
UMass — the Atlantic 10 championship runner-up — opened its NCAA tournament with a 2-1 upset victory over No. 3-seed UConn on Nov. 15. The Minutewomen followed up the performance with a 1-0 shutout of Harvard two days later.
Fuchs said her team’s Final Four opponent is especially battle-tested.
“They keep finding a way to win,” Fuchs said. “They’ve got really talented players and a really great goalkeeper, so they’re solid all over. That’s what you want in the Final Four: to go and be at your best at that point.”
While UMass is headed to its first Final Four in 32 seasons, the ’Cats return eight of their 11 starters from last season’s semifinal clash with Duke. Wadas, graduate student goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz and senior midfielder Maddie Zimmer are NU’s three returning starters from its Ann Arbor title-winner in 2021.
Fuchs said the teams’ gulf in Final Four experience may benefit both sides.
“There is something to be said for never being there — I think UMass is going to come out feeling like they have nothing to lose and just go for it,” Fuchs said. “But there’s nothing like that feeling when you step on that field for a Final Four game, having those nerves and being able to calm them really quickly.”
Now, the team’s veterans are looking to cap their collegiate careers with a coveted piece of hardware.
Although Skubisz and many others have less than a week remaining as college field hockey players, the veteran netminder said a sense of finality has yet to creep in.
“I’m sure it will hit us when it’s all over,” Skubisz said. “I feel like the friendships on the team are definitely going to last long after we graduate here. So, the hockey feels final to a certain extent, but the team doesn’t.”
Wednesday marked the ’Cats’ last Lakeside Field practice this season, with their remaining preparations taking place in Ann Arbor. Many seniors and graduated students walked off the turf surface where NU hasn’t dropped a loss in 451 days one final time.
Skubisz said she plans to still train with the team this spring as she gears up for Team USA Field Hockey responsibilities, while Wadas said the moment’s magnitude struck her during a conversation with Northwestern Medicine athletic trainer Kelly Sherman prior to Wednesday’s session.
“I got treatment this morning, and Kelly was like, ‘Oh, your last practice at Lakeside,’” Wadas said. “I was like, ‘Oh wow.’ Kind of hit me then, but I’m just enjoying every moment I have left with this team.”
Another perennial powerhouse in No. 1-seed UNC will play No. 4-seed Saint Joseph’s in Friday’s earlier matchup, but Fuchs said her team can ill afford to look beyond its first game.
She added that it’s a lesson long instilled in her team’s veteran core — take every game one at a time.
“They’re probably the best class to ever play and leave Northwestern,” Fuchs said. “Obviously, they want to leave with another title under their belt, but they’ve done so much for this program. I’m so grateful for all of them.”
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