Minutewomen Fall 1-0 To Northwestern In Hard Fought Final Four Matchup

ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- No. 14 Massachusetts (17-6, 7-0 A-10) fell 1-0 to No. 2 Northwestern (22-1, 8-0) in a hard-fought NCAA Final Four matchup on Friday at Phyllis Ocker Field. The Minutewomen held the top-remaining national seed without a score for nearly 50 minutes of regulation but could find net in the end.

Massachusetts battled on defense for the entirety of the NCAA Semifinal matchup, stopping seven Northwestern shots in the second quarter alone. Junior goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen impressed in the historic matchup, making six saves. The Minutewomen held Northwestern to just three penalty corners, coming up with stops on all three occasions.

Graduate student Elena Clococeanu shined coming inches away from giving the Minutewomen a one goal lead on Massachusetts' lone penalty corner. Clococeanu impressed facilitating from the back line, playing an aerial that nearly led to an early scoring opportunity.

Northwestern was led by Ashley Sessa who scored the lone goal in the matchup.

Breaking Down The Action

Northwestern recorded the game's first shot, as Olivia Bent-Cole sent a ball just wide of the cage two minutes into the action.
Massachusetts earned their first scoring opportunity of the afternoon as an aerial from Elena Clococeanu almost connected with the stick of Alexa Collins for a goal.
The first 15 minutes ended with the score tied at 0-0, with Northwestern recorded the first quarter's lone shot.
The Wildcats generated a series of shots early in the second quarter, but Myrte van Herwijnen made three athletic saves to keep it 0-0 with 12:33 left in the half.
Northwestern drew the games first two corners back-to-back, seeing the Massachusetts DPC unit come up with a pair of stops with just under 10 minutes in the second.
Krissy Leonard launched the Minutewomen's first shot from the middle of the shooting circle, sending it high over the cage at the 5:40 mark on the clock.
The halftime whistle blew after a hard fought 30 minutes of play with the score still square at 0-0
Massachusetts earned its first penalty corner of the day, with the shot from Clococeanu rolling past the goalkeeper and inches from the goal before being stopped by Wildcat defender Ilse Tromp.
The third quarter remained a defensive battle, with each team recording just one shot.
Northwestern found a gap on the counterattack as Maddie Zimmer found Ashley Sessa for the first and only tally of the game.
Massachusetts pulled its goalie with 5:39 remaining in regulation but was unable to find the equalizer.
The whistle sounded with the final score 1-0 in favor of Northwestern.

Notable Numbers

3: The Minutewomen held Northwestern to just three penalty corners on the afternoon, not allowing single set piece opportunity in the second half.
5: Massachusetts made its fifth NCAA Final Four appearance in the game.
6: Van Herwijnen made six crucial saves in the matchup, all coming in the second quarter.

NCAA History

The Massachusetts field hockey program (17-5, 7-0 A-10) earned its 27th overall NCAA Tournament bid on selection Sunday, marking their first appearance since 2016.
Massachusetts now owns an overall record of 23-28 (.438) in the NCAA Tournament and a 1-4 (.250) mark in the Final Four.
The Minutewomen advanced to the first ever NCAA Field Hockey Championship Final in 1981, falling 4-1 to UConn in the inaugural final. The matchup is the lone NCAA Championship game appearance for Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has now advanced to five NCAA Semifinals (1981, '83, '87, '92, '24) and has made 10 elite eight appearances including back-to-back seasons on two separate occasions.
Massachusetts joined Saint Joseph's as the only two Atlantic 10 schools to receive NCAA Tournament bids this season, with both programs advancing to the final four. This is the first time since 1990 that the A-10 has had two teams (UMass and Temple) advance past the first round.
The 2024 NCAA Championship marks the first time in conference history that the A-10 has had two programs reach the NCAA Semifinal.

Series History

Friday's NCAA Final Four match-up marked the 11th meeting between UMass and Northwestern. The Minutewomen hold a 4-7-0 record all-time in the series.
The two opponents faced each other earlier this season with Northwestern claiming a 6-1 victory over UMass.
Friday marked the second ever matchup between the two programs in NCAA Tournament competition.

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