'Cats Ready to Battle Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament

Friday, November 3

Ann Arbor, Mich.

12 p.m. CT

Northwestern

#5 Ohio State

Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics

'Cats Ready to Battle Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament

11/2/2023 4:22:00 PM | Field Hockey

No. 1 Northwestern field hockey (one seed) travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on No. 11 Ohio State (five seed) on Friday in the Big Ten Field Hockey Semifinals after earning a first-round bye. A win would take the 'Cats to the Championship game on Sunday. Action is set to begin at noon CT and will be televised on Big Ten Network.

Storylines

Northwestern field hockey is the outright Big Ten regular season champion for the first time since 1994 after finishing with a perfect 8-0 B1G record - an undefeated conference season for the first time since 1988. Northwestern enters Friday's action on a 16-game winning streak, a new program record for wins in a row, breaking the previous record of 14 wins set in 1985.
Coach Tracey Fuchs was named the unanimous Big Ten Coach of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday. It was the second selection of her career after she also earned the distinction in 2013.
Annabel Skubisz earned the Big Ten's inaugural Goalkeeper of the Year award. Skubisz leads all Division I goalkeepers with a 0.859 save percentage and a 0.52 goals against average. The senior has already recorded 11 shutouts this season, highest in the nation and second in Northwestern single-season history.
Five Wildcats earned First Team All-Big Ten Honors, the most of any Big Ten program. Lauren Wadas headlined the group with an unanimous selection while Olivia Bent-Cole, Peyton Halsey, Alia Marshall, and Annabel Skubisz also were named to the first team. Greta Hinke and Ilse Tromp each picked up Second Team All-Big Ten selections. The seven All Big-Ten selections set a Northwestern record for most selections in a season, while their five First Team selections were the most since 1994.
Alia Marshall enters tournament play ranked second in the nation for assists per game with an average of 1.00.
Halsey led the team with 11 goals scored this season, tied for sixth most in the Big Ten. She also led the team in points with 31.
Last time out at the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern reached the semifinals against No. 6 Michigan before falling 2-1 to the Wolverines. The 'Cats last won the tournament in 2014. They defeated Iowa, Michigan and Maryland en route to that Championship - their only Big Ten Tournament title in program history.

Matchup Information

Earlier this season in Columbus, the 'Cats earned a 4-3 victory over then-No. 12 Ohio State. Northwestern owns the all-time series 29-19-1 and has won each of the last three meetings between the teams.