Northwestern
(18-5)
#9 Liberty
(20-3)
Northwestern Topples Liberty to Win National Championship
11/21/2021 4:35:00 PM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Wildcats shut out the most prolific offense in the country and snapped a 17 game winning streak to win the first national championship in program history and become just the 12th school to claim the title.
Head Coach Tracey Fuchs and her squad will become the ninth Northwestern team and the third program to bring home a national championship.
"We knew we could do it," 2021 NCAA Tournament MVP Maddie Zimmer said, smiling. "We finished. We did the details. We came out on top. It was a good day for the 'Cats."
Northwestern stifled Liberty with a rock solid defense and an unrelenting offense to put away a 2-0 win in the NCAA Championship on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The 'Cats played spectacular midfield hockey, challenging a strong crew of tacklers on the Flames and holding Liberty to just one shot in the second half.
"Our defense is one of the best defenses in the country," Head Coach Tracey Fuchs said. "We're able to attack so much because we know if we happen to lose it we've got those players in the back."
Liberty came out in the first quarter firing and the Northwestern defense was ready to face them, neutralizing three corners and five shots. Annabel Skubisz was a brick wall in the cage, putting up three consecutive saves on just one penalty corner.
"You can just play relaxed when you know you have a solid goalkeeper who's gonna make the saves she should and then some extras, even one on me yesterday that was pretty good too." Fuchs joked with reporters post-game.
The 'Cats quickly found a response on offense in the second quarter and began to dominate possession, earning a whopping five penalty corners and putting up 10 shots. Alia Marshall broke the game open early in the third quarter and got the Wildcats on the board with a deflection off a Maren Seidel penalty corner sweep.
Zimmer put the game out of Liberty's reach with a buzzer beater goal on a fast break to end the third, securing her MVP title.
"She's a world class player. We were just trying to get to the end of the quarter and I think in ten seconds she went 60 yards with the ball." Fuchs said. "She's hard to defend because she's got world class skills with double world class speed."
Unsurprisingly, Zimmer credits her individual success to her teammates; echoing their mantra this year that they are all just one of 28.
"Couldn't have done it without my teammates," she said. "I trust every single teammate with my life honestly. As much as individual awards are really exciting, I'm so excited we won the national championship. I'm so happy for this team."
Maddie Bacskai knew the Wildcats would be NCAA Championship contenders as soon as she joined the squad. A year ago she called Fuchs to commit to Northwestern and promise her new head coach a championship run.
"I knew coming into this team that there was so much talent, what I didn't know was just how incredible these girls were off the field as well." Bacskai said. "They have so much heart and are just amazing teammates. I'm so fortunate that I've had this year with them."
Team Stats
Marshall,Alia (4)
Assisted By: Seidel,Maren
corner tip from left post
35:53
Zimmer,Maddie (9)
carried in from midfield, shot from righ
44:54
