Field Hockey Adds Seven to 2024 Roster
7/22/2024 11:19:00 AM | Field Hockey
A dual citizen who has represented both the Netherlands and the United States at the junior international level, Juliana Boon will join the Wildcats from St. John's school in Houston, Texas. Boon brings significant club experience from both sides of the pond with HC Klein Zwitserland in the Hague and Texas Pride from Houston. While in the Netherlands, she won the 2022 European Championship as goalkeeper for the Dutch Youth National Team, and in April 2024 she toured Belgium as a member of the USA Under-18 National Team. Boon was named Second Team All-American as a junior before earning First Team All-American honors – and leading the Mavericks to an SPC Championship – as a senior.
2023 MAX Kentucky Player of the Year, Anna Krebs, will join the 'Cats this fall from Louisville. She has excelled on the international stage: representing both the USA Under-16 and U-18 teams on international tours to Canada and Belgium. Krebs, a four-year varsity letterwinner, was named captain her senior year at Assumption High School in Kentucky, and has seen success at the national level with her club, IFHCK. After winning a Kentucky State Championship as a junior, Krebs earned team MVP and First Team All-State honors during her senior campaign. She was also named a 2023 NFHCA Second Team All-American after earning First Team All-Midwest Region honors.
A top-10 Max Field Hockey recruit for the class of 2024, Eva Nemeth comes to Evanston from Great Valley High School in Malvern, PA, where she earned All-League and All-Area honors each year of her high school career and was named First Team All-State following her junior and senior seasons. After making the NFHCA's Second Team for the Pennsylvania Region in 2022, Nemeth earned All-American honors and was awarded the NHSCA's Field Hockey Player of the Year this past fall. She has seen extensive success with her club WC Eagles – winning National Club Championships at the U14, U16 and U19 age groups. In 2022 and 2023 she represented Team USA internationally at the U16 and U18 level.
Nadia Nemeth will also join the Wildcats this fall, bringing another MAX Field Hockey top 50 player in the class of 2024 to Northwestern. A four-year varsity forward, Nemeth led Great Valley High School with 48 goals and 19 assists her senior season. Following her senior campaign, she was named NFHCA First Team All-Region and First Team All-State in 2023 - the second All-State and All-Region selections of her high school career. In each of the past three years, Nemeth was also named to the DLN All-Area First Team and the Ches-Mont American League First Team. She earned MAX Field Hockey Third Team All-American honors in both her junior and senior seasons, and has seen extensive success over her club career with WC Eagles.
Laura Salamanca, a midfielder, joins Northwestern from Santiago, where she has gained extensive international experience as a member of the Chilean Junior National teams. After helping Chile to a bronze medal in the 2023 Junior Pan American Field Hockey Tournament in Barbados, Salamanca most recently competed in the 2023 Junior World Cup with the Chilean U21 team. She graduated from the Andrée English School in December 2022. She's spent her entire youth career with the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, leading her youth team to the National Championships in both 2022 and 2023.
Elaine Velthuizen will join the 'Cats from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. A district representative for South Holland at the Under 15 level, Velthuizen played 11 years in the midfield for HC Rotterdam, sharing the field with current Wildcats Maja Zivojnovic and Ilse Tromp. Her career with the club includes four years as captain, indoor and outdoor National Championships in 2018, and outdoor National Championships in 2019 and 2023. She made her Hoofdklasse debut with Rotterdam's Ladies First team versus Amsterdam on September 24th, 2023.
Ashley Sessa comes to Northwestern as a transfer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The US Women's National Team stand-out took an Olympic redshirt (alongside Wildcat teammate Maddie Zimmer) to train and compete with the National Team, and in January 2024 she helped Team USA qualify for an Olympic berth. Prior to Northwestern, Sessa won a National Championship with UNC in 2022, and was named Second Team All-ACC and First Team All-South Region. As a prep athlete, Sessa led Episcopal Academy to a PAISSA State Championship in 2022, and won seven National Club Championships with the WC Eagles. She has been a mainstay with the US Women's National Team since earing her first senior cap in November 2021, amassing an extensive list of Junior and Senior National Team accolades: a silver medal during FIH's 2024 Olympic Qualifier, a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Games, a bronze medal at the 2021 Junior Pan American Championship, and a gold medal at the 2023 Junior Pan American Championship. She will represent the United States at her first Olympic Games in Paris this July.
