'Cats Set to Battle Duke in NCAA Semifinal

Friday, November 17

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2 p.m. CT

Northwestern

#3 Duke

Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

'Cats Set to Battle Duke in NCAA Semifinal

11/16/2023 3:48:00 PM | Field Hockey

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Two-seed Northwestern field hockey continues NCAA Tournament action as they prepare to take on three-seed Duke in the semifinal round on Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C. A win would take the 'Cats to their third straight Championship game. Action from Karen Shelton Stadium is set to begin at 2 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.

Storylines

After defeating Louisville 3-2 on Sunday, this will be Northwestern's third straight NCAA Final Four appearance and the seventh overall in program history.
Northwestern has a NCAA-best 0.57 goals against average while Duke sits at third with 0.96. The teams are two of three nationally to limit opponents to less than one goal per game on average this season.
With Ilse Tromp's two goals in last Sunday's quarterfinal, the 'Cats' roster now boasts two first years in double figures in Tromp and Olivia Bent-Cole. The pair are the first two true first years to reach double-digit goals in the same year at Northwestern since 1982 and only the second pair to hit that mark in program history. Over the last nine games, Bent-Cole and Tromp have combined to score 12 of the team's 26 goals, or 46 percent.
The 'Cats enter Friday on a record 20-game win streak, tying the program record for wins in a season. Their last loss came 82 days before Friday's game, on August 27.
Peyton Halsey, Alia Marshall and Annabel Skubisz were just named to the NFHCA Senior Team on Wednesday, adding to already-impressive resumes.

Matchup Information

During the regular season, Northwestern and Duke faced off as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in College Park, Md. on Sept. 3. The 'Cats defeated the Blue Devils 3-2.
Northwestern meets Duke for the 15th time overall and the ninth time in the past 10 seasons, with the 'Cats winning their last two match ups in 2021 and 2022.
Northwestern's last and only postseason meeting with with Duke came in 2014 in Chapel Hill, when the Blue Devils won a first-round match-up 2-1.