Four and a half minutes into overtime against No. 7 Michigan senior midfielder Maddie Zimmer controlled the ball near No. 1 Northwestern’s 25-yard line. She made a move past a Wolverine defender. She weaved down the sideline on another and then cut inside to beat a third, crossing the Michigan 25-yard line and firing a pass toward the shooting circle.

“I got the ball from (sophomore back) Ilse (Tromp) and thought to myself, ‘I think I’m going to run now,'” Zimmer said. “(Sophomore forward Ashley) Sessa and (graduate midfielder Lauren) Wadas They are such great players, they were conquering the field. … I sent the ball in, hoping to make the most of it, and they were there to put it in.”

Sessa received the pass and fired a shot at Michigan goaltender Hala Silverstein. Silverstein made a kick save to deflect the attack.

Wadas poked the ensuing rebound into the back of the cage to secure a 2-1 win and a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the Wildcats (16-0, 6-0 Big Ten).

A dog pile started.

“I just love our resilience,” coach Tracey Fuchs said in a postgame interview on Big Ten Network. “We had a great week of training. I’m so glad it paid off for these players. They did everything right and now they can lift at least part of the trophy today.”

If two teams at the top of the Big Ten at the end of the season have the same conference record, the title will be shared by both teams. The ‘Cats can win the Big Ten outright with a win over Michigan State Sunday.

Seconds later, Fuchs’ players emptied a Gatorade cooler on the architect of what will be the greatest season in NU history.

On the Phyllis Ocker hockey field in Ann Arbor –– the site of the NCAA Division I national championship, one month away –– the ‘Cats took the field against a strong squad in the Wolverines (11-3, 4-2 Big Ten).

The game started as what Fuchs described as a “battle.” Each team played a physical game, controlling the ball mainly in midfield. The Wolverines recorded the only shot of the first frame.

NU picked up its offensive intensity heading into the second period, scoring four shots and forcing Silverstein into two saves. With 30 seconds left in the first half, sophomore forward Olivia Bent-Cole hit a shot that forced Silverstein into action, but it sailed wide.

The ‘Cats struck in the first five minutes of the third period. Sessa took a penalty corner and found Zimmer, who set up a drag flick shot for Tromp. A drag move is a shot with a running windup, often used on penalty corners, that accelerates the shot speed.

Tromp’s drag flick found graduate student midfielder Chloe Relford‘s stick and Relford aimed the shot into the cage to put NU up 1-0. Fuchs said the corner was set up to find a way to get around Michigan’s flyer — the first runner to defend a corner — which had successfully blocked previous corners.

“It was a perfect ball for Chloe,” Fuchs told The Daily on Friday. “We’ve been doing that angle a lot this year, so I’m really happy with that because it gives us more variety.”

Graduate student goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz stood firm in the net throughout the second half and at one point made a stick save to keep a shutout on the board. She made seven saves in total. Fuchs told The Daily that Skubisz will be added to the U.S. women’s national hockey roster in January.

NU almost made it 2-0 in the fourth period via Bent-Cole’s stick. The Philadelphia native spun past a Michigan defender and covered another, firing a shot around Silverstein for a crucial insurance goal. However, replay review revealed that the ball had struck Bent-Cole’s foot during the build-up and the goal was disallowed.

Michigan ramped up its offensive intensity after the review, recording four shots in the final 15 minutes of regulation. The Wolverines broke through on a penalty corner, with Michigan’s Emmy Tran hits a shot past Skubisz to tie the game at one.

Although NU had an open look at the net with about 30 seconds left in regulation, it was unable to capitalize and the two sides prepared for an extra ten minutes of hockey.

Wadas, the overtime hero, was given a miniature Gatorade bath by Fuchs in her postgame interview on Big Ten Network.

“I said this last year, I’ll say it again: the job isn’t done yet,” Wadas said. “Our goal is to win today, win the tournament and win the national championship.”

This is NU’s eighth Big Ten regular season title overall and third during Fuchs’ tenure. It marks the first time in program history that NU has won back-to-back Big Ten titles since the 1984-85 seasons.

Fuchs said the team would celebrate on the bus ride to East Lansing, Michigan, before switching focus to Michigan State. Zimmer echoed that sentiment.

“We’re very optimistic and very excited about the rest of the year and what the rest of the season has in store for us, but at the same time we’re taking it one game at a time,” Zimmer said. “We are now just focused on Michigan State and coming home with the outright title.”

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