Wolverines Drop Slugfest Against No. 2 Northwestern in B1G Semifinals

Friday, November 7

Bloomington, Ind.

1:00 PM

Michigan

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Northwestern

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Michigan

Northwestern

Kelsey Reviello (Gracie Farrall/Big Ten Conference)

Wolverines Drop Slugfest Against No. 2 Northwestern in B1G Semifinals

11/7/2025 4:18:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan twice tied the score, but fell 5-3 to No. 2 Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
» Cami Wiseman and Natalie Millman scored in the second quarter, while Claire Taylor converted a penalty stroke early in the third.
» Goalkeepers Hala Silverstein and Caylie McMahon combined for eight saves.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team came out on the wrong end of a 5-3 slugfest against No. 2 Northwestern in the Big Ten Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon (Nov. 7) at Indiana's Deborah Tobias Field.

The Wolverines rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at two late in the second quarter then again at three early in the third before Northwestern (17-1) pulled away with two unanswered goals, scoring its final go-ahead and game-winning marker at the 43:28 late in the third quarter.

Michigan (10-7) withstood a first-quarter onslaught when, despite largely containing play to the U-M defensive third, Northwestern only recorded one shot before breaking through with the game's first goal at the 12:00 mark on a redirection in front of the cage.

Northwestern struck again seconds into the second quarter, at 15:37, when Grace Schulze, who posted her team's first tally, chipped a reverse high across the goal mouth, and Ashley Sessa reached over her head to get her stick on it and deflect it in.

The Wolverines scored twice within a four-minute stretch to even the score. Sophomore Cami Wiseman got Michigan on the board at 21:15 after graduate students Claire Taylor and Abby Tamer worked the ball through traffic into the circle from the midfield. Wiseman got loose in front, wound up and hammered a shot to the lower-left corner board for her third goal of the season.

Michigan converted on its first penalty corner of the game at 25:22 for the equalizer. Taylor corralled the ball after the stop skipped out of the circle and fed it back to sophomore Eva Bernardy, who got a hard shot off from the top of the arc. Junior Natalie Millman touched it in front of the cage to tip it in for her second goal this season.

The momentum was short-lived, as Northwestern responded just 33 seconds later when Shulze lifted in a rebound off junior/sophomore goalkeeper Hala Silverstein's pads and into the netting near the right post.

After the Wolverines overturned a Northwestern corner goal on review late in the second quarter, Taylor converted on a penalty stroke -- Michigan's first of the season -- at 35:06 to knot things up again. The Wolverines drew the stroke off a penalty corner when freshman Maxine Rogge's direct shot hit the right post and junior Payton Maloney pushed the rebound into a Wildcat foot on the goal line. Taylor then hit the post on the stroke, but when the NU goalkeeper left the cage early, the Wolverine captain buried the reshot to the bottom-right corner. It was her first goal of the season after having two others overturned on review earlier in the campaign.

Northwestern took the lead for good off a broken corner at 43:28. NU worked the ball back into the circle and finished on a reverse shot from the arc to the opposite lower-right corner of the cage. The Wildcats added another less than five minutes later to pad their advantage. U-M overturned another goal on review, but Northwestern scored on the ensuing penalty corner, converting on a drag flick at the 49:01 mark.

Northwestern outshot the Wolverines 14-7 and outcornered them 8-4. Silverstein and graduate student goalkeeper Caylie McMahon combined for eight saves, while Wildcat goalkeeper Julianna Boon, the 2025 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, posted no saves and allowed three goals.

The Wolverines will require an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for 10 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 9) on NCAA.com.