For the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team, it’s truly proving to be a fairy-tale year. The 19-1 “elevated” club team arrived last weekend at the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League’s playoff championships in Toledo, Ohio, seeded third – and came away with the title. With their league championship, the Wildcats are one of eight teams that qualified for the national club lacrosse championships in St. Louis from May 12-13. It’s the ultimate culmination to a season in which the team has been awarded elevated club status the spring before it goes varsity, a U.S. national team member and legend of the sport in head coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller, and increased funding and support from NU’s athletic department.”We want to go all the way,” sophomore co-captain Alexis Cohen said. “We’re going to do the best we can and hopefully bring home the national championship.”But the Cats had to earn a berth to the elite eight first, and three tough games awaited them at the WCLL championships last weekend. Their first obstacle was Michigan, a team NU had beaten 5-2 in March for its first tournament of the season. And last weekend’s matchup was a pivotal game – a loss would have ended the Cats’ chance of a berth in the national championships.”They came out and scored first, right away off the first draw,” Cohen said. “It shook us up because we had gone in so excited.”The Cats answered right back, scoring in the next two minutes on their way to a 9-4 victory. Sophomore Lillian Lardy led NU with five goals, followed by senior co-captain Julie Lazarus, who scored twice.After a brief rest, NU moved on to tackle second-seeded Michigan State, whom the Cats had never faced before.”They had tons of fans and like 35 players to our 17 – something absurd like that,” Lazarus said. “We came out and dominated and they didn’t know what to do. It was solid lacrosse.”With five goals coming from senior Susan Garea, the Cats advanced into the regional championships with a 9-4 win over the Spartans.NU then faced Miami (Ohio), who had handed the Cats their only loss of the season on April 7, a 6-5 defeat that left NU craving a rematch.That chance arrived along with a national berth on the line and the realization that a WCLL championship was within reach.The Cats started out tired and fell behind 2-1 at the half, playing hesitantly and unfocused.But with the score tied 3-3 with five minutes left, junior Erin Celentano scored the game-winning goal and Cohen added an insurance goal with two minutes remaining. NU won 5-3 with the help of sophomore goalie Kelly Matheson’s eight saves. “They realized what championship play really is,” Amonte-Hiller said. “This weekend they gained an excitement and intensity for the game.” The Cats have two weeks to prepare for the national championships. Amonte-Hiller said her team’s focus will be fitness and defense, while adding a few surprises on the attack.The club championships are broken into two four-team pools, with the No. 2 Cats facing No. 1 Navy, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Michigan State in round-robin play on May 12. The other bracket consists of top-seeded Army, No. 2 California Polytechnic State-San Luis Obispo, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Miami (Ohio). The top two finishers in both brackets will compete in the Final Four on May 13.Amonte-Hiller said the tournament will be a challenge because of the lack of scouting knowledge and game tapes available on many of the opposing teams. “We’re just going to have to raise our own level of play,” Amonte-Hiller said. “We’ve seen where we need to get to. Now we’re setting our goals according to that.”The appearance at the national championships is the Cats’ first. It arrives just in time for one last hurrah before the team turns varsity next spring.”It’s an excellent end to being a club team,” Lazarus said. “We’re going out with a bang.”