ANN ARBOR, Mich. — No. 2 Northwestern finished just inches away from immortality in Chapel Hill last season. The loss left coach Tracey Fuchs’ squad gutted — but it also fueled a relentless fire that burned for 371 days, reaching its zenith in Sunday’s national championship against No. 4 Saint Joseph’s on Phyllis Ocker Field.
The Wildcats (23-1, 8-0 Big Ten) left nothing up to chance in a dominant 5-0 victory over the Hawks (20-4, 6-1 Atlantic 10). The win marked the program’s second national title as it scaled the sport’s summit for the first time since 2021.
Four minutes into the match, senior midfielder Maddie Zimmer nearly made the championship clash’s initial imprint, striking the post with a powerful effort. The Olympian eventually opened the scoring with 8:43 remaining in the first quarter off a clinical feed from sophomore back Ilse Tromp.
After going scoreless in nine of her last 10 starts, sophomore forward Olivia Bent-Cole redirected a Zimmer hit beyond Saint Joseph’s goalkeeper Marith Bijkerk, doubling NU’s advantage to 2-0.
In the opening frame’s final minute, Tromp’s lethal penalty corner drag flick handed the ’Cats a 3-0 lead ahead of the second quarter.
The rout was well underway with nine minutes remaining in the first half, as sophomore forward Ashley Sessa sent another penalty corner in Zimmer’s direction. The senior struck the backstop with her second goal of the afternoon.
With Tromp capitalizing on another penalty corner, NU broke the record for goals scored in a championship half and entered the break with a 5-0 lead.
Saint Joseph’s held the ’Cats scoreless in the second half, but the Hawks couldn’t generate any semblance of offensive momentum as Fuchs’ squad cruised to its trophy lift.
Here are three takeaways from NU’s national championship win over Saint Joseph’s.
1. The ’Cats launch a first-quarter flurry
NU experienced an uncharacteristically slow start against UMass on Friday, going scoreless for nearly 50 minutes. Fuchs’ forward line left no doubt in the opening frame Sunday.
The shots poured in from all angles, with Zimmer, Bent-Cole and Tromp handing the ’Cats a 3-0 cushion after just 15 minutes of play. NU scored at an unconscious clip, converting three of its first five shots.
On Saturday, Bent-Cole told The Daily she knew her team couldn’t afford to end regulation tied. She said the ’Cats needed to maximize every chance they got in the shooting circle and approach every corner with the mentality that they’d score.
The sophomore and her fellow forwards certainly made good on her pregame premonition, putting the Hawks in a seemingly insurmountable hole after just one quarter.
2. Zimmer peaks at a pristine moment
Last season, Zimmer could merely watch on as NU fell 2-1 to UNC while she trained for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Sunday, the Big Ten Player of the Year took center stage in Ann Arbor. Zimmer was simply unguardable, with her game-breaking speed and significant stick skills on full display. By halftime, she matched her season-high with five points.
She covered nearly every inch of Phyllis Ocker Field’s astroturf, making defensive stops and kickstarting a potent offense.
While the midfield maestro doesn’t always wreak havoc on the stat sheet, Zimmer tallied a goal and an assist in the opening period alone. She scored a proverbial backbreaker early in the second quarter, which vaulted the ’Cats’ championship dreams ever closer to reality.
3. Fuchs’ group saves best performance for brightest stage
For the bulk of the 2024 campaign, NU looked like a sure-fire title contender. The ’Cats won their first 19 games — a program record for most consecutive victories to start a season — and convincingly clinched the outright Big Ten regular season title with a game to spare.
But Fuchs’ squad soared to infallible form Sunday. Facing the team that downed previously unbeaten UNC, NU put on a collective clinic.
Saint Joseph’s entered the game conceding fewer than a goal per game, but the ’Cats made quick work of the nation’s No. 5 scoring defense. The Hawks had conceded just one goal before Sunday. NU scored five before halftime.
Meanwhile, graduate student goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz hardly flinched against a Saint Joseph’s squad that had averaged 3.52 points per game this season.
The ’Cats won their one-on-one battles across the field, and their synergy helped produce one of the team’s most commanding performances in its final match of 2024.
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