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Senior forward Ashley Sessa, sophomore midfielder Jess Freedman and first-year forward Raquel Hofmeister contributed to Northwestern’s scoring as well. Between the pipes, junior goalkeeper Juliana Boon made three saves and recorded her eighth shutout of the season.
With 13 shots on goal out of 18 total shots, Northwestern played one of its most efficient games of the season. This came despite eight combined saves from Buckeye goalkeepers Maddie Stevens and Avery Alleva.
Northwestern struck first in the sixth minute off a penalty corner. Senior forward Olivia Bent-Cole took a shot that Sessa tipped high into the net with a between-the-legs shot. It was Sessa’s eighth goal of the season, tying Tromp as NU’s leading scorer.
It didn’t take long for the ‘Cats to score again: 90 seconds later, junior midfielder Laura Salamanca set up a centering pass for Nemeth, who made it 2-0. After breaking a near two-year scoring drought that extended to October 2024 on Sept. 25, Nemeth now has two goals in her last two games.
Tromp set up Northwestern’s third on the day in the second quarter, making a pass from the midfield to first-year Kiera Sack. Sack then assisted Freedman, who finished the play off in the 22nd minute.
Northwestern entered halftime with a 3-0 lead and a dominating presence. Though Ohio State had several opportunities, including the first shot of the game, NU outshot it 9-2 and allowed zero corners on defense in the first half.
OSU kicked off the second half with back-to-back corner attempts, but both were stopped by Boon. Later in the 36th minute of the game, Krys found a wide-open Nemeth, who got her second goal of the game. On the very next play, Sessa beat two defenders in a play that led to Hofmeister’s second career goal.
