Reigning champions, Northwestern University took home the crown in a double overtime, 3-2 game against Princeton University in the 2025 NCAA D1 Field Hockey Championship on Nov. 23.
Hosted at Duke University, Princeton University and Northwestern University faced off in the NCAA field hockey championships. Princeton University went into the championships with a record of 18-3. The Northwestern Wildcats had a record of 21-1, their only loss being to Princeton on October 13.
Princeton came into this game after having been on a 14-game winning streak, including their 3-2 win against Northwestern in October. Northwestern went into this game as reigning champs from the year prior, when they won a 5-0 game against Saint Joseph’s University.
In the average game of field hockey, 10 players and a goalie make up the players on the field. The players on the field consist of defenders, midfielders, forwards and a goalkeeper. There are four, 15 minute quarters, if the score is tied then the game goes into a 7v7 overtime.
Northwestern had been awarded two penalty corners over Princeton within the first half of the Championship game, but the score remained 0-0. This tied score remained consistent until the one minute and 45 second mark, where Princeton was awarded their third penalty corner of the quarter and scored the first goal of the game.
The first goal was scored by #17, Beth Yeager who is a midfielder on the Princeton team. Freshman and junior varsity field hockey player Liana Ngo considered this as the moment the game truly began. “When they scored their first goal. I think that kind of put the game into perspective of, oh, yeah, they’re in the lead,” Ngo said.
This 1-0 slant in Princeton’s favor didn’t last very long as Northwestern player Kate Janssen tied the score on a penalty corner five minutes into the fourth quarter. According to freshman and varsity field hockey player, Melinda Wang, this moment was the most significant part of the entire game. “This is like the most important time of the game, because if they hadn’t scored, none of this would have happened and the game would have been Princeton’s. They would have won,” Wang said.
The score remained tied for the rest of the fourth quarter throughout penalty cards and corners, it was still anyone’s game. This unbreakable tie led to the first overtime of the game, a 7v7, 10 minute overtime. Goals were shot and saved, the 1-1 score remained for the entirety of the first overtime.
Fourteen seconds into the second overtime, Northwestern was awarded their 10th offensive corner of the game. At the nine minute and 41 second mark, Ilse Tromp scored the game winning goal for Northwestern. By winning this game, it also marked Northwestern’s third victory within the past five years for NCAA Field Hockey.
This goal secured Northwestern their title as the 2025 NCAA Field Hockey champions, giving them a final record of 22-1. According to freshman and junior varsity field hockey player, Kenzy Dinallo the game could have gone either direction as both teams gave their all. “They both played super hard, I wouldn’t say luck. I would say it’s just [that] every little move counts,” Dinallo said.
