​DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 23: Northwestern Wildcats celebrate with the trophy after a win against the Princeton Tigers during the Division I Women’s Field Hockey Championship at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium on November 23, 2025 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images The back-to-back national champs begin their quest for a third consecutive national title and fourth in program history. As always, more focused position breakdowns will be coming from Inside NU in the coming weeks, but for now, we take a broader look at what the roster will look like when the ‘Cats take on VCU on Aug. 28, when their season kicks off.Roster TurnoverLosses: Maddie Zimmer (M), Grace Schulze (F), Amelia Albers (F — Northeastern), Maja Zivojnovic (B)Additions: Maddie Epke (F), Anna Arnold (F), Eleanor Evarts (B), Montgomery Ferguson (M), Kiera Sack (M), Caroline Kotz (M), Jess Freedman (M), Bree Moffett (F)GoalkeepersBig Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Juliana Boon seemed to fill the shoes of Annabel Skubisz seamlessly with a .775 save percentage — eighth in the nation — in her 1,402 minutes in the cage. The then redshirt first-year began her collegiate career with four consecutive clean sheets, two of which came against top-10 opponents in Duke and Boston College at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Durham.With three years of eligibility left, it seems that Boon is the long-term answer for Northwestern’s questions in goal post-Skubisz. If things go poorly, Faye Post is next in line.Post has only seen action in four games thus far in her career, with three appearances coming last season (none longer than six minutes) against Big Ten opponents. Experience isn’t on her side, but she will need to be prepped to take the wheel in the worst-case scenarios.Kayla Joyce is the No. 3 in the cage for the ‘Cats, but is yet to see action in her career. The former North Allegheny goalie was a two-time WPIAL All-Star and First-Team All-State honoree and could get her chance this upcoming season.BacksAs Zivojnovic continues to battle for one more year of eligibility after a career riddled with injury, NU must prepare to experience a reality without her versatility on the field. It’ll need to find a leader who can step up in the biggest moments of the season, just as Zivojnovic did against Maryland in the 2025 regular season, scoring the game-winner in the second half to keep NU’s perfect conference season intact.Well, Tracey Fuchs won’t need to look too hard.Ilse Tromp remains the leader of NU’s back line after earning 2025 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors — an accomplishment that goes overlooked largely due to her overtime heroics in the national title game against Princeton. 35 points is nothing to scoff at, but what’s most impressive about Tromp is her ability to kickstart transition offense with her suffocating defense.Emilie Kirschner, a redshirt sophomore who was p