Northwestern Defeats Massachusetts To Reach NCAA Final

Photo by Ryan Kuttler / Northwestern Athletics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Second-seeded Northwestern will play for a national championship in field hockey after posting a 1-0 victory over Massachusetts in the NCAA Tournament semifinals Friday afternoon. The Wildcats benefited from a third-period defensive save by Ilse Tromp and Ashley Sessa’s game-winning goal scored with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Northwestern (22-1) will meet No. 4 seed St. Joseph’s (20-3) — which upset top-ranked North Carolina — in the NCAA Championship Game Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET at Phyllis Ocker Field. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

NU will be playing in its fourth-straight NCAA Final, becoming the first time to do so since North Carolina in 2012. The Wildcats last won a national championship in 2021, on the same field they will be playing on Sunday.