No. 2 field hockey gave the Northwestern Wildcats a run for their money in the NCAA Championship game on Sunday, but in sudden death, the Tigers couldn’t hold off the Wildcats’ corner attack, falling 2–1.
This final game of the 2025 season was what everyone hoped it would be: a cat fight. In October, Princeton handed Northwestern their only loss of the season. This weekend, Northwestern was seeking revenge, assisted by former Tiger Grace Schulze ’24, now wearing purple.
In the first quarter, it was neck and neck hockey. Both teams were able to get circle entries and it was hard to finish a thought about one team before the possession was taken by the other.
With about four minutes left, Northwestern earned the first attack corner of the game. Junior goalkeeper Olivia Caponiti and the defensive penalty corner unit, one of the top in the country, were there to stop it. Caponiti had eight saves on the day.
“I think defensively we had a rock-solid performance. We didn’t quite match that with the ball. We turned the ball over too much. I’m super proud of the effort from the ladies today, just wish it were a different outcome,” head coach Carla Tagliente told The Daily Princetonian.
The first quarter was scoreless, as was the second. The Wildcats led the Tigers 3–1 in shot attempts going into halftime, but the real problem had yet to come: Northwestern is truly a second-half team, scoring about 60 percent of their goals during second-half play.
The Wildcats came out with energy to start the third. They were awarded three corners within the first four minutes and change. For the Orange and Black, junior defender Ottilie Sykes and first-year defender Gabriella Anderson protected Tiger territory each time.
In the middle of the third quarter, momentum shifted in favor of Old Nassau. Sophomore forward Pru Lindsey got a takeaway around the 2:15 mark, leading to a Princeton offensive progression. The Tigers were given an attack penalty corner. In her last collegiate field hockey contest, senior midfielder Beth Yeager delivered when it mattered most. Her drag flick banged against the inside of the Wildcat cage. It was 1–0 Tigers going into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats found the fourth quarter steam they needed to match Princeton’s goal. They scored on their seventh corner of the game to get the equalizer with ten minutes remaining in regulation.
Each team was vying for an opportunity to finish the other. Princeton didn’t put up any shots in the fourth but they did manage to deter the Wildcats’ corner scoring attempt with seven seconds left in regulation. The victor would be crowned in overtime.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played overtime. Geez, I really think the last time was against Syracuse,” Tagliente said.
Princeton would end up starting and finishing their season in similar fashion: They played a slew of overtime games in September, including one against Syracuse and then another against Rutgers, but hadn’t done so since then. Northwestern, meanwhile, had just beaten the University of North Carolina team in overtime on Friday.
In the first overtime period, the Wildcats outshot the Tigers one to zero. Although the Tiger defense was rock-solid, offensive opportunities would be needed to win the championship. Neither team could score in the first overtime, so the defending champs and the second-seeded Tigers headed into another sudden-death period. Neither team had gone into double overtime this season prior to this matchup.
Just 15 seconds into the second overtime, Northwestern’s Schulze started a play in the circle that would eventually lead to an attack penalty corner. As the ball was sent in, a lone “Go Tigers” floated across the stadium, followed by the strike of the ball against the Princeton goal. Northwestern’s Ilse Tromp quieted Tiger fans and ended Princeton’s historic championship run with a drag flick straight into the goal.
The Tigers had maintained a 14-game winning streak prior to their championship loss, the longest single season win streak in program history. Princeton put up a valiant effort, but in the end, they couldn’t create shots when they needed it the most.
“I know that they’re proud of each other and that’s what really made this group special: They put the team above their own interests,” Tagliente told the ‘Prince.’
Emilia Reay is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince’ and the Spanish Language Pilot Program Director.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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