WILD CARDS: Maddie Bacskai, left, and Clara Roth handle the ball in action this past fall for the Northwestern University field hockey team. The two former Princeton University standouts competed for the Wildcats as grad students utilizing their fourth year of eligibility and helped the program win its first-ever NCAA championship. (Photos provided courtesy ofNorthwestern Athletic Communications)

By Justin Feil

Maddie Bacskai and Clara Roth felt they were part of a potential national championship field hockey team at Princeton University, but ultimately had to go elsewhere to win one.

The two Princeton graduates, who competed for Northwestern University as grad students utilizing their fourth year of eligibility, started all season and helped the Wildcats capture their first NCAA championship as they defeated Liberty 2-0 in the national final in November.

“It was huge,” said Roth, the second leading scorer for the Wildcats with 34 points on 13 goals and eight assists as the squad finished the fall with an 18-5 record.

“It was probably the biggest success I’ve had in field hockey. Having that in your final season is honestly that’s the way you want to do it.”

Roth and Bacskai had hoped to be playing for Princeton in 2020, one year after the Tigers came up short in the national championship game. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the NCAA called off the fall 2020 season and the Ivy League did not play in the reshuffled spring 2021 NCAA season.

Those developments meant a second straight year off for Bacskai, who had also missed the 2019 season after injuring her knee in the spring of 2019. Without any eligibility left at Princeton, but with a year of NCAA eligibility left, Bacskai and Roth found Northwestern, where both are working toward a master’s degree in management studies at the Kellogg School of Management.

After the national title win, Bacskai was the final person left sitting in host Michigan’s locker room, and she reflected there on the culmination of their college careers.

“After the obstacles of the past two years with COVID, and I had an ACL tear during the 2019 season and 2019 being so close to the national championship, I finally achieved that one goal and could say I’m a national champion,” said Bacskai. “It was seriously the best feeling in the world.”

Bacskai and Roth brought considerable experience to an otherwise strong Northwestern team. Northwestern reached the NCAA quarterfinals in the spring 2021 season before losing to Iowa. Princeton had lost to North Carolina in the 2019 national final.

“Even though it was a new team, it felt like I personally
continued my path,” said Roth, who hails from Schwetzingen, Germany. “It didn’t feel like I was starting over.”

The Wildcats’ run gave their roster a chance to avenge their prior losses. They defeated North Carolina 2-0 in the first round, then edged Iowa 1-0 in this year’s quarterfinal to earn their first trip to the NCAA Final Four since 1994. It was the fourth Final Four trip for Bacskai and third for Roth.

“Some of the younger girls were nervous,” said Roth. “Maddie and I could help calm the team down. We knew what energy it took. We had to stay calm and some games were a little hectic. We had to calm the team down. I felt very calm and not as nervous as I’d been in the previous final fours or championship.”

Their impact was felt in their leadership off and on the field. Roth assisted both goals in Northwestern’s 2-1 win over Harvard in the national semifinal. In the national championship game, against the top scoring offense in the country, Bacskai and the defense earned a shutout, the only time that Liberty was shut out all season.

“Sometimes it still doesn’t feel real,” said Bacskai. “I remember the final game versus Liberty. The clock finally hit 0:00. The last two minutes felt like eternity being on defense and trying to keep the ball out. I ran and hugged my teammates. At that point, I think I was still in shock.”

Bacskai, a native of Berwyn, Pa., had an emotional two years between seasons. Upon injuring her knee, her initial disappointment was in being unable to play with her Princeton classmates. She took a semester off from Princeton with the hope that she’d get a chance in the 2020 season, which then didn’t happen.

“It was definitely heartbreaking and difficult,” said Bacskai, a three-time First-Team All-Ivy League selection during her time at Princeton who was named the Ivy Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American in 2017.

“Some tears were shed. At that point, unlike the year before when I knew I’d be able to take another year, I knew I probably couldn’t do that and knew I wouldn’t be able to play with Princeton. That was hard but I had my family and friends with me. I was just happy I’d get another year somewhere else.”

While her college career was on hold, Bacskai tried to stay sharp. She played with a club team in England for a month before COVID-19 hit in 2020. Over the next year she only had training on her own, but she returned for a trial with the United States national team in March, 2021, and toured with them in a pro league in Europe.

Roth also had challenges. She did not return to her native Germany in the fall of 2020, but chose to live in Princeton with some teammates and train while attending school virtually until the University returned to in-person learning in the spring semester. She finished school and limited training in the spring under Princeton protocols with her class of 2021.

“It was nice to have that last couple months or weeks with the team and the coaches,” said Roth, a two-time First-Team All-Ivy selection and two-time All-American who was named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Year in 2018.

“We weren’t working toward a goal because we didn’t have a season to play, but it was nice to have a few more practices on Bedford (Field) and say goodbye to Princeton in that way.”

In the fall, they transitioned to a new Northwestern group that fortunately had a similar mindset overall, but there were adjustments. Bacskai had played man defense her entire career, but adjusted to Northwestern’s zone. Early in the year, without five starters who were playing at the Junior Pan American Games, Northwestern played Roth at center forward before moving her out to her more comfortable outside spot on the forward line. And there was a larger time commitment.

“When we got our training blocks handed to us in the beginning of the year, they went from two-hour training blocks to four-hour training blocks,” said Bacskai.

“That was definitely a huge difference being in the Big Ten, having that expectation of more field hockey and more lifting. I think that was a huge adjustment. Overall, the teams had the same mentality of working hard and pushing each other to get better.”

That mentality was important to keep through a season that had some twists and turns. Northwestern lost three of its first four Big Ten games, two of them in heartbreaking fashion in overtime. They also lost in a shootout in the first round of the Big Ten tournament leading into NCAAs.

“Honestly at that point, it was almost a blessing in disguise to go home early and have those five days to regroup and get back together and think about what we have to work on,” said Bacskai. “I think we always had the skill throughout the season. It was a matter of all being on the same page and pushing towards that goal.”

To do it with another former Princeton teammate made it that much more special for Bacskai and Roth. Bacskai already had lined up her graduate school commitment when Roth also came on board.

“When I found out Clara was coming, I was super excited,” said Bacskai.

“One, because she is an awesome field hockey player. Two, I was happy to have some part of Princeton coming with me to this new
exciting journey with Northwestern. It was cool to do it all together. We’re roommates and we’re in the same program. We did the whole fall season together from class to commuting up to campus and making it to the national championship. It was great to have Clara with me.”

The two will go their separate ways after graduation. Bacskai will be looking to play at a higher level. She will go to Charlotte, N.C., to train with the U.S. national team.

“My main goal is the Olympics,” said Bacskai. “That’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was little. Being able to say I’m an Olympian, that’s the next goal on the agenda. Some of these other major tournaments, the World Cup is this summer, so that’s something in the near future that I’d be looking to make the team for to compete in. We’re going to see where it goes.”

Roth had never envisioned playing for the German national team. She hopes to continue to play at a very high club level if she returns to her native country. As they look ahead, they do so with warm memories of making the most of their last college field hockey season together.

“I’m very satisfied with my five years in the U.S.,” said Roth. “I achieved all I wanted to achieve. I’m sad there’s only four years of eligibility. I’m sad to go, but happy with what I did with my four years of eligibility.”