No. 2 Northwestern waited to see when broadcaster Will Haskett would call its name during Sunday night’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
Earlier that day, the Wildcats (18-1, 8-0 Big Ten) finished up business in Bloomington, Indiana, winning the Big Ten Tournament championship and securing automatic qualification into the tournament.
But for the first time since 2021, NU did not receive the second seed. Nor did it receive any of the top-four seeds in the tournament.
After a season characterized by lockdown defense and Big Ten dominance, the ’Cats will not host a game at Lakeside Field this postseason. NU overcame the same circumstances during the 2021 tournament, claiming its first national championship, so it does have a history of triumphant postseason runs on the road.
The top seeds were awarded to No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Princeton, No. 4 Harvard and No. 5 Virginia, skipping over the ’Cats, who rank second in the National Coaches Poll. Though the selection committee comprehensively reviews each squad, Rating Percentage Index is a driving element of its selection. RPI, which takes into account winning percentage, strength of schedule and opponents’ strengths of schedule, lists those four teams ahead of NU.
Though the ’Cats stack up with the top teams, coach Tracey Fuchs isn’t looking past their first-round matchup against No. 12 Yale.
“We’re just focusing really on Yale right now,” Fuchs said. “I think if you look too far ahead, things could start to spiral.”
The Bulldogs (12-5, 4-3 Ivy League) finished third in the Ivy League, trailing behind only Harvard and Princeton. Yale boasts a strong defense, anchored by All-Ivy Second Team goalkeeper Amelie Schwarzkopf, who has allowed one or fewer goals in 10 of her games this season.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Juliana Boon will play opposite Schwarzkopf. Boon, also in her first year as a starter, has put together a spectacular campaign, allowing just 11 goals en route to winning Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year.
In what could shape up to be a tight defensive contest, NU will look for its illustrious attack core to make the difference.
“All the forwards have been really playing their part and playing well on both sides of the ball,” Fuchs said. “We know we’re going to get our chances, we just need to be in the right spots and put that ball on goal.”
The ’Cats have six players with at least 19 points so far this season. Junior forward Ashley Sessa leads the squad with 58 points, while graduate student forward Grace Schulze and junior defender Ilse Tromp follow with 30 and 29, respectively.
One of NU’s veterans, graduate student midfielder Maddie Zimmer, has been with the program since 2020 and has helped lead the ’Cats to two national championships. The two-time Big Ten Player of the Year has quietly tallied 20 points while anchoring the midfield.
“She leads by example,” Fuchs said. “She is really a calm, cool, collected leader on and off the field and just a great human.”
The fourth-seeded Cavaliers (16-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast) play host to the ’Cats this weekend. Those squads are accompanied by Yale and Miami (Ohio), and just one of the four will head to the tournament semifinals.
The ’Cats begin their quest for back-to-back titles when they take on the Bulldogs on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
“We know we have a good enough team to make a long run in the tournament, but it all starts Friday,” Fuchs said. “We hope that when we come out to play, we’re putting our best foot forward.”
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