No. 4 Wildcats Open Season With a Pair of Top-25 Matchups

Friday, August 27

Evanston, Ill.

12 p.m. CT

Northwestern

#6 UConn

No. 4 Wildcats Open Season With a Pair of Top-25 Matchups

8/26/2021 9:26:00 AM | Field Hockey

2021 NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME (CT)	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, Aug. 27	#6 UConn	12 p.m.	Lakeside Field	Big Ten Network	Sidearm
Sunday, Aug. 29	#21 Miami (OH)	12 p.m.	Lakeside Field	BTN+	Sidearm
Social: Twitter (@NU FHCats) \| Instagram (@NUFHCats)

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern Field Hockey is set to open its 2021 fall season at home this weekend with a pair of Top-25 matchups. The Wildcats will welcome No. 6 UConn for their home opener on Friday, followed by a showdown against #21 Miami University on Sunday.

Earlier this week the Wildcats checked in at #4 in the preseason NFHCA Coaches Poll, marking the highest preseason ranking received by the school in program history. The Wildcats enter this season coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, having earned one of three-at large selections in last year's field of 12 qualifiers that included both UConn and Miami.

The Wildcats return an abundance of talent to this year's roster, headlined by the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Maddie Zimmer, along with All-Big Ten honorees and NFHCA All-Americans, Kayla Blas and Bente Baekers.

Northwestern will be without five of its talented returners for this weekend–as Blas, Zimmer, Alia Marshall, Annabel Skubisz and Lauren Wadas are currently representing the United States U-22 National Team at the 2021 Junior Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile. Northwestern's five selections to the 18-member national team marked the most of any collegiate program in the country.

Last season, Northwestern posted a perfect 6-0 record in home games at Lakeside Field. The 'Cats last played UConn and Miami during their 2019 season, dropping a 4-1 setback to the Huskies in California while earning a 5-2 victory at Miami in which Baekers posted her second-career hat trick as a redshirt first-year.