2021 Field Hockey Roster
Baekers, Bente
Jersey Number 3
Bente Baekers
- Position:
- F
- Height:
- 5-4
- Class:
- Redshirt Junior
- High School:
- Wateringse Veld College
- Hometown:
- Rijswijk, the Netherlands
Bio
Awards:
- All-American First Team (2020-21, 2021, 2022)
- All-American Second Team (2019)
- NFHCA West Player of the Year (2022)
- NFHCA All-West First Team (2019, 2020-21, 2021, 2022)
- All-Big Ten First Team (2019, 2021, 2022)
- All-Big Ten Second Team (2020-21)
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2019)
- Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (9/23/19, 4/19/21, 9/13/21, 8/30/22, 9/12/22, 9/17/22)
- Big Ten Freshman of the Week (9/3/19, 9/16/19, 9/23/19, 9/30/19, 10/14/19)
- NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week (9/25/19, 4/21/21, 9/14/22)
- Academic All-Big Ten (2020, 2021)
- 2022 NFHCA Division I Senior Team
- NCAA All-Tournament Team (2022)
Career Highs:
- Goals: 4 (vs. Maine, 8/28/22)
- Assists: 3 (vs. Kent State, 9/10/21)
- Points: 8 (vs. Maine, 8/28/22)
- Shots: 12 (2x, most recent at UMass, 8/29/22)
- Shots on Goal: 10 (at Stanford, 8/30/19)
Season Highs:
- Goals: 4 (vs. Maine, 8/28)
- Assists: 2 (at Princeton, 9/18)
- Points: 8 (vs. Maine, 8/28)
- Shots: 12 (at UMass, 8/29)
- Shots on Goal: 8 (at UMass, 8/29)
2022:
- All-American First Team
- NFHCA West Player of the Year
- All-Big Ten First Team
- 3x Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (8/30, 9/12, 9/17)
- NFHCA Division I Offensive Player of the Week (9/14)
- NCAA All-Tournament Team
- NFHCA All-West First Team
- NFHCA Collegiate Watch List
- Ranked second in the nation with 25 goals (tied fourth most in a season in Northwestern history) and 58 points (fifth most in Northwestern history)
- Scored a career-high four goals in season opener against No. 22 Maine, the first-four goal performance by a Wildcat since Pascale Massey in 2016 (8/28)
- Scored two goals against No. 25 UMass, marking the first time a Wildcat has scored six goals through the team's first two games since at least 1994 (8/29)
- Posted three points against No. 18 Duke with a goal and her first assist of the season (9/2)
- Scored against No. 14 Boston College for her fourth game in a row with a goal
- Scored two goals in the span of 40 seconds in the national championship rematch vs. No. 11 Liberty (9/9)
- Scored two goals against No. 9 Virginia, marking her sixth consecutive game with a goal to start the season, the longest such streak by a Wildcat since at least 1996 (9/11)
- Collected three points with an assist and the game-winning goal against Penn (9/16)
- Recorded her first two-assist game of the season against No. 8 Princeton (9/18)
- Became just the second player in Northwestern history to score 75 career goals with her first of two goals against Richmond (9/25)
- Scored two goals and fired seven shots on goal in the win over No. 6 Penn State (9/30)
- Scored a goal three minutes into the contest against No. 4 Maryland (10/2)
- Fired two shots against No. 23 Rutgers (10/8)
- Scored her 80th career goal against Michigan State, becoming the second player in program history and fifth player in Big Ten history to reach that milestone (10/14)
- Became the country's first player to reach 20 goals in 2022 with a score against No. 21 Ohio State (10/16)
- Recorded three points on a goal and an assist against Indiana (10/28)
- Scored a goal and fired nine shots against Miami (OH) (10/30)
- Fired 16 shots, including six on goal, in the Big Ten Tournament (11/3-11/6)
- Scored a goal in the fourth quarter to force overtime in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals (11/13)
- Scored the game-winner and assisted the insurance goal against No. 2 Maryland in the NCAA Final Four to send the Wildcats to their second straight national championship game (11/18)
- Recorded her third goal of the NCAA Tournament in championship against No. 1 North Carolina (11/20)
2021:
- All-American First Team
- NFHCA All-West First Team
- All-Big Ten First Team
- Led the National Champion Wildcats and ranked second in the conference with 45 points (t-9th most in program history) and 18 goals (t-18th most in program history)
- Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (9/13)
- Seventh Wildcat to eclipse 50 career goals
- Scored in the season opening win over No. 6 UConn (8/27)
- Contributed two goals and two assists against No. 21 Miami (8/29)
- Fired a goal against No. 12 Duke to score in each of Northwestern's first three games (9/3)
- Set a new career high with three assists while adding a goal against No. 23 Kent State (9/10)
- Achieved her fifth career hat trick and recorded an assist against No. 25 Maine (9/12)
- Logged three points on a goal and an assist in the win over No. 7 Maryland (9/30)
- Added a goal against Penn State (10/3)
- Recorded her second hat trick of the season and assisted another goal against Ball State (10/10)
- Posted another hat-trick against Michigan State (10/17)
- Logged a goal and an assist in senior day win over Indiana (10/31)
- Scored a game-winning goal in overtime against Harvard to send the Wildcats to the National Championship game (11/19)
2020-21:
- All-American First Team
- NFHCA All-West Region First Team
- Led the team with 15 goals on the season, in addition to five assists
- Earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors (4/19)
- Posted an assist in win over Michigan State (2/27)
- Put up three shots and two assists in comeback victory against Maryland (2/28)
- Notched fourth assist of the season on Northwestern's lone goal against Penn State (3/5)
- Netted the game-winner and her first goal of the season in second win over Maryland (3/7)
- Led the team with two goals in shut-out win over Indiana (3/12)
- Grabbed two goals and an assist in overtime win against Ohio State (3/26)
- Scored Northwestern's lone goal against No. 10 Rutgers (4/9)
- Added another goal against the Scarlet Knights (4/11)
- Netted two goals to lift the 'Cats to a win over No. 2 Iowa (4/15)
- Recorded the game-winner to complete sweep of No. 2 Iowa (4/17)
- Added another game-winning goal against No. 8 Rutgers in opening round of the Big Ten Tournament (4/21)
- Posted goal against Ohio State (4/22)
- Contributed two goals in NCAA win over Delaware (4/30)
- Recorded the lone goal against Iowa in the NCAA quarterfinals (5/2)
2019:
- All-American Second Team
- Earned NFCA First-Team All West Region Honors
- Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten after leading the conference in shots (99), goals (28) and points (59)
- Ranked third in the nation in goals per game and points per game
- Her 28 goals scored in a season are tied for second-most in program history and the most ever scored by a Wildcat rookie
- Received six Big Ten weekly honors, named Freshman of the Week five times and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week once
- Notched four hat tricks, including back to-back in victories at No. 12 Ohio State (9/20) and Miami (9/22), then against Kent State (10/20), and a fourth in the Big Ten Tournament first round win over Rutgers (11/17)
2018:
- Sat out her first-year season with an injury
High School:
- Played for HDM, her club team, for 13 years
- The squad won the 2015 and 2018 Indoor National Championships
Personal:
- Daughter of Ann and Fred Baekers
- Born in Rijswijk, South-Holland, Netherlands
- Majoring in Journalism
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