Despite falling in the Big Ten Tournament to No. 6 Michigan (14-5, 5-3 B1G), the NCAA tournament higher powers decided that Northwestern’s (17-4, 5-3 B1G) record was strong enough to earn the No. 2 tournament seed, likely influenced by its incredibly strong strength of schedule. After Lakeside Field hosted a play-in game between Miami (OH) and Rider yesterday, the ‘Cats will face that game’s winner in the No. 25 RedHawks tomorrow at their home site.
The RedHawks are no unfamiliar face to this team, who actually wrapped up their regular season against them on October 30 in Oxford, where NU came out on top, 3-1.