Everything is working for Northwestern early on.
After a trip to Durham for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the ‘Cats (4-0) return to Evanston with their perfect season intact.
Perfect season not only pertains to the record, but also the score column. The Wildcats have yet to give up a goal in 2025. Four consecutive clean sheets to start a season is a program record for NU, and it is the only team in the country that hasn’t allowed a goal — a testament to Juliana Boon’s growth as NU’s newest starting goalkeeper.
The ‘Cats started the weekend with a defensive showdown against No. 5 Duke (2-2).
The contest took one minute to get off the ground, as the Duke attack would test Boon early. Alaina McVeigh took her shot from the left side of the net, but found the ball rolling back towards her, as Boon booted the roller right back at the attacker.
The game would fall flat until the 11:40 mark, at which point Northwestern was awarded a penalty corner. Ashley Sessa, taking the corner for NU, found Ilse Tromp for her first shot of the game, but to no avail, as the Blue Devils blocked the attempt to close the first period.
The same opportunity came to Tromp with 24 seconds left in the second period, and she’d redeem herself. Working off a stop from Aerin Krys, Tromp tucked the shot into the bottom right corner, past the reach of Kaiya Chepow and in between the legs of Sophia Miller, who was manning the post, for Northwestern’s only score of the game.
From there, the Wildcat defense took over. Duke only got off three shots in the third quarter, all being saved by Boon or blocked by a back. The Blue Devils couldn’t muster a shot in the fourth, giving way to a 1-0 ‘Cats win.
Game number two on Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium was even more competitive, and gave Northwestern fans a heart-wrenching moment in the second half.
Much like the second half of the Friday matchup, the theme of the first half in Sunday’s marquee against No. 8 Boston College (3-1) was “defense wins championships.” BC only got off two shots, both of which Boon was able to handle. On the other end, Charlotte Kramer tallied two saves of her own, as the first half ended with no score.
At the 11:40 mark of the third quarter, Sessa would be ejected for a stick check, leaving the ‘Cats down a man for the rest of the game. Sessa will also miss the entirety of Northwestern’s next match against Louisville.
It didn’t matter in the end.
Grace Schulze would get Northwestern the win in the span of six minutes: she’d log the first score of the game with 10 minutes to go, then follow it up six minutes later to put the game to bed. Schulze has established herself as an extremely reliable scorer on this team with a Wildcat-best four goals on the season, which ties her for third in the Big Ten.
Tracey Fuchs’ squad is nearly halfway through non-conference play and has excelled in each contest. Their schedule will cool down for the rest of the month, as they won’t have to face another ranked opponent until Oct. 3, where they’ll battle No. 15 Iowa on the road. However, the start of the season seems to indicate that ranked opponents won’t be an issue for the defending champs.