Northwestern's top-ranked field hockey team opens a three-game California road trip Thursday, Sept. 17, facing a slate of unbeaten opponents to close out non-conference play.

The Wildcats (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten) play at Stanford (6-0, 0-0 ACC) in Palo Alto at 8 p.m. CT, with the game streaming on ACCNX, according to Northwestern athletics. Northwestern then faces No. 18 Cal (5-0, 0-0 ACC) in a neutral-site matchup in Davis, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m. CT. The trip wraps up Sunday, Sept. 20, against UC Davis (2-4, 0-0 MPSF) at 1 p.m. CT.

The Stanford game marks the first time this season Northwestern has faced an opponent with a matching 6-0 record. Cal brings its own credentials: the Golden Bears beat No. 8 Michigan 1-0 on Sept. 11 in Ann Arbor, according to Michigan athletics.

Northwestern enters the trip coming off back-to-back ranked wins at Lakeside Field in Evanston. The Wildcats beat No. 14 Louisville 3-1 on Sept. 11 and blanked No. 16 Miami (OH) 2-0 on Sept. 13, according to Northwestern athletics. The shutout set season highs with 24 shots and 16 penalty corners.

Junior goalkeeper Juliana Boon anchored both wins. She recorded seven saves in each game, tying a career high, and allowed just one goal across the weekend. Boon earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, her fifth career weekly award, according to Northwestern athletics. The 2025 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year has 16 clean sheets in 28 career games.

The roster features four returning 2025 NFHCA (National Field Hockey Coaches Association) All-Americans: Boon, senior forward Ashley Sessa, senior back/midfielder Ilse Tromp and Olivia Bent-Cole.

Sessa, the 2025 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, led the Wildcats with 65 points last season and ranked second in the NCAA in points per game at 2.95. Tromp scored the championship-winning goal in Northwestern's 2-1 double-overtime victory over No. 2 Princeton in the 2025 NCAA title game. That win gave the Wildcats their third national championship in five years.

Head coach Tracey Fuchs praised the team's depth after an overtime comeback against No. 6 Duke on Sept. 4. "We have 10 newcomers that are putting on the jersey in the fall for the first time, so you never know how they're going to react," Fuchs told Inside NU on Sept. 10.

Team captains Aerin Krys, Sessa and Tromp lead a squad that has won all six games. A sweep in California would send Northwestern into Big Ten play with a perfect 9-0 non-conference record.