No. 1 Maryland visits No. 2 Northwestern for Thursday-night field hockey showdown

Alyssa Klebasko and Ashley Sessa will faceoff Thursday in one of the hottest NCAA Division I contests of the 2026 college field hockey season. Photos: Maryland and Northwestern athletics

Pass the remote.

Thursday night has sticks instead of shoulder pads, and a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 matchup worth clearing the couch for.

Top-ranked Maryland visits No. 2 Northwestern on Oct. 22 at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Illinois, with neither Big Ten field hockey team beaten in conference play. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central, on Big Ten Network.

The unusual Thursday-evening slot on the teams’ largely Friday-and-Sunday schedules brings together NCAA Division I field hockey’s top two teams in the coaches poll and NCAA RPI rankings, with Big Ten title-race and NCAA postseason implications.

Maryland holds the No. 1 poll ranking, while Northwestern leads the RPI. The evening slot was announced in August, before the teams reached their current poll positions.

Maryland is 14-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten. Northwestern is 14-1 and also 5-0 in conference competition, its only defeat a 2-1 overtime loss at Princeton on Oct. 11.

The Wildcats responded with a 4-1 road victory over Indiana on Friday; the Terrapins arrive after consecutive 4-0 wins against Michigan State, and Ohio State.

Maryland received 219 points and 10 first-place votes in the Oct. 20 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I poll, compared with Northwestern’s 210 points and one first-place vote. The NCAA RPI rankings through Oct. 18 put Northwestern first and Maryland second.

Maryland ranks third nationally in NCAA scoring margin at 2.69, while Northwestern ranks fifth at 2.62.

Missy Meharg’s Terrapins have climbed from No. 13 in the preseason coaches poll to No. 1. Maryland’s Oct. 13 ascent marked its first top ranking since September 2022, according to the university. Sunday’s win made this the fourth Maryland team to start a season 14-0 and delivered its eighth shutout of the year.

Francisca Eschoyez leads Maryland with nine goals. Babs van Hest has eight goals and nine assists for 25 points. Maci Bradford added two assists against Ohio State, and the NCAA’s Oct. 18 statistical report lists her tied for fifth nationally at 0.92 assists per game.

Feliz Kuhne scored twice in 81 seconds in the fourth quarter against Ohio State, reaching four goals for the season. Josie Hollamon assisted on the second goal.

With Alyssa Klebasko in goal, Maryland has allowed 10 goals across its 14 scheduled contests.

The season represents a sharp change from 2025, when Maryland finished 10-8 and missed the NCAA tournament. Thursday offers a chance to measure that resurgence against an opponent the Terrapins have not beaten since 2022.

Tracey Fuchs’ Northwestern team counters with Ashley Sessa and Ilse Tromp, scoring threats in open play and on penalty corners.

Sessa has 12 goals and nine assists on the season for 33 points, and Tromp with 11 goals and two assists for 24 points, according to Northwestern’s own recent reports.

Sessa earned a hat trick against Michigan and a two-goal performance against Iowa, followed by a goal against Indiana. Tromp scored twice in the Indiana victory, both on penalty corners.

Olivia Bent-Cole and Sessa assisted on Tromp’s opening goal against Indiana, Laura Salamanca provided the pass for her second, and Raquel Hofmeister added Northwestern’s fourth goal.

The Wildcats finished with a 12-8 shot advantage and six penalty corners to Indiana’s three.

Goalkeeper Juliana Boon made three saves against Indiana. Her season save percentage is 86.4 percent and her goals-against average is 0.61, compared with Klebasko’s 83 percent and 0.65.

The clearest contrast against a common opponent is Princeton.

Maryland escaped with a 4-3 shootout victory on Sept. 29. Northwestern lost 2-1 in overtime there on Oct. 11, ending its unbeaten streak and preceding its drop from first to second in the coaches poll.

Both teams beat Boston College 2-0. Northwestern posted wider winning margins against Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State, but those results alone do not establish how Thursday’s matchup will unfold.

Northwestern has won six straight meetings with Maryland, most recently 2-1 in College Park on Oct. 19, 2025.

Maddie Zimmer, in her last season with the Wildcats, and Maja Zivojnovic, scored after Djuna Eikelboom put Maryland ahead. Maryland’s last victory in the series was a 2-1 overtime win in Evanston on Oct. 2, 2022.

Maryland will try to end that streak and preserve its unbeaten season, while Northwestern will look to extend its recent advantage in the series. Both teams enter Thursday’s game with matching 5-0 conference records.

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