For the first time since 2019, No. 3 Princeton field hockey will have a run for the national title. This Sunday, the Tigers continue their stay in Durham, NC and take on powerhouse No. 2 Northwestern, the reigning 2024 champion, for an opportunity to reclaim the top spot in Division I field hockey since their 2012 national championship season.
The Tigers have hoisted the national trophy just once in program history, 13 years ago in the era of former national team captain and Olympian Kathleen Sharkey.
In the semifinals, Princeton faced familiar Ivy League foe Harvard. Having just met in the Ivy League Tournament finals on Nov. 9, Princeton would hand the 2024 Ivy League Tournament champions their first loss of the season, snapping a 19-game win streak in a close 2-1 contest. This avenged Princeton’s earlier regular season loss to Harvard, where the Crimson tripped up the Tigers in a 3-1 match.
Just 12 days later, the programs would have the opportunity to find a true victor among the split matchups. After topping both Fairfield and Syracuse, the Tigers once again drew Harvard for the semifinal contest, setting up an unprecedented third meeting this season and the highest-stakes chapter yet in the league’s most dominant rivalry.
Princeton’s defensive heroics allowed them to shutdown Harvard 2-0 for a place on the national stage. The Tiger’s ironclad defensive unit withstood six penalty corners and limited the Crimson to only five shots. Freshman Gabriella Anderson stepped into a vital position after captain and two-time first-team All-Ivy selection Ella Cashman tore her ACL during the conference tournament final.
Anna Faultstich broke the scoreless stalemate with just 3:45 left in regulation, finding a long pass from Clem Houlden that allowed her to dribble the baseline and net Princeton’s lead from an extreme angle.
On an open net, Caitlin Thompson would push an insurance tally in for the Tigers, sealing the Crimson’s fate.
Princeton is making its 27th overall NCAA tournament appearance hoping to build upon its 34-26 all-time record and will meet Northwestern for the second time this season. The Tigers handled one of the most competitive schedules, with ten of their 16 regular season game slate opponents being nationally ranked throughout the 2025 season, the No. 1 Northwestern being the pinnacle of their October schedule.
The Tigers stunned the national champs, completing a 3-2 upset of the behemoth and previously undefeated. Princeton is the only team this season to down both Northwestern and Harvard, ending both of their unscathed win streaks.
Northwestern is finals bound for the fifth straight season, downing No. 1 North Carolina in overtime thriller fashion. The ‘Cats clawed back from a 3-1 deficit, the largest goal disparage in a semifinal match since 2011. Ashley Sessa’s overtime notch highlighted the gritty performance.
Scouting the Wildcats, Princeton will have to continue its stingy defensive efforts to shut down Northwestern’s cardiac offense, with its national caliber repertoire of players like Sessa, Maddie Zimmer, Ilse tromp, and Olivia-Bent Cole.
Fellow Olympian Beth Yeager counters Northwestern’s lethal offense. A playmaker in its most authentic definition, Yeager is just one of two players in program history to reach 58 goals and 35 assists. Yeager capped her lustrous conference career with her fourth Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year honor, and if she is to garner another All-American accolade, she’d be the first in Ivy player to do so four times.
Princeton head coach Carla Tagliente will reunite with field hockey legend and Northwestern head coach Tracy Fuchs, Tagliente formerly on the Cats’ staff as associate head coach in 2009 and 2010.
The matchup this Sunday at Duke’s Jack Katz Stadium will be a clash between an unstoppable modern powerhouse and a team looking for make a return to its former national prowess.
