Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias” chronicles a once-omnipotent kingdom’s descent to desolation. The ruinous mark of a mighty monarch, buried in the desert sand, provides the sole indication of his formerly vast empire.
It’s a cautionary tale for dynasties amid changing tides: adapt to a new era or risk an epic fall from grace. For coach Kelly Amonte Hiller it’s a fate she has continuously eluded.
Northwestern’s 11-year national title drought was a story of a dormant power reborn from the ashes in 2023. But as the clock struck zero in the national championship game a year later, two vast white tents with unopened champagne bottles stood motionless less than 100 yards from the WakeMed Soccer Park spectator entrance.
Saturday’s 13-9 loss to No. 1 Boston College struck down a formidable figure forged by last season’s departing senior class. A 47-game home win streak dating back to March 9, 2020, shattered in the Wildcats’ climate-controlled palace beside Lake Michigan.
The four-goal margin of defeat perhaps flattered the hosts, who appeared helpless to stymie the Eagles’ seven-deep attack. On the offensive end, junior attacker Madison Taylor tallied a game-high six points, but the team’s collective scoring threat fell flat.
While the result marked the end of a dominant home era that spanned the length of four-year defensive stars Kendall Halpern and Carleigh Mahoney’s standout careers, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Boston College rightfully stands atop the collegiate lacrosse landscape — and will do so until a challenger knocks coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s squad off its perch.
Now, as she has done throughout her decades-long coaching career, Amonte Hiller must guide NU into its next program-defining phase. In May, the ’Cats bid farewell to a legion of college legends, such as Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall.
A dropoff, like many teams around the country are experiencing, was inevitable. But NU is no ordinary dynasty, and the ’Cats have now felt the sobering low of defeat on their home turf for the first time in 1,803 days. It’s a safe bet that Amonte Hiller’s group will use Saturday’s loss as fuel moving forward.
As the nonconference schedule ramps up, here are some key NU lacrosse storylines to monitor.
Taylor grapples with Tewaaraton hype
Just over two months into Taylor’s freshman season in 2023, former Wantagh High School lacrosse coach Robyn Rooney heaped astonishing praise in her former two-way midfielder’s direction.
“She’s going to be an All-American and a Tewaaraton finalist, if not a Tewaaraton winner,” Rooney told The Daily in April 2023. “She’ll be playing for Team USA. … She’s a generational player.”
In oracle-esque fashion, Rooney nailed every prediction she laid out for the Wantagh, New York, native. Taylor entered her junior season having garnered IWLCA first-team All-American honors, a Tewaaraton Award finalist nod and a U20 World Championship gold medal with an Amonte Hiller-led Team USA.
After competing in fall camp with the senior national team, Taylor has once again taken the NCAA by storm. In her first three games, the lefty attacker recorded 14 goals, seven assists and 10 draw controls.
Unlike previous seasons, the attack runs through Taylor’s stick. If she can guide the ’Cats to a deep postseason run, Taylor’s name may be called at June’s Tewaaraton Ceremony as the winner of college lacrosse’s most prestigious honor.
NU searches for consistent attacking depth
During the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the ’Cats possessed an unparalleled attacking arsenal. With Scane and Coykendall commanding each opposition’s No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the scouting report, complementary scorers reaped significant benefits.
Dylan Amonte, an unheralded yet pivotal scoring threat, pitched in 73 goals in her last two years with the program. Her sacrificial cuts didn’t show up on the scoreboard, but they opened windows for teammates to exploit.
This offseason, NU lost 337 points to graduation. That accounts for nearly 65% of the team’s total production. Scane and Coykendall headline that figure with 109 and 101 points, respectively.
The major losses, especially on the attacking end, caused Amonte Hiller’s staff to hit the portal for its largest-ever transfer class.
The staff brought in six transfers — graduate student attackers Riley Campbell and Niki Miles, graduate student defender Grace Fujinaga, graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer, senior attacker Jordan Miles and redshirt sophomore midfielder Jaylen Rosga.
Assistant coach Scott Hiller told USA Lacrosse magazine that Niki Miles marked “the key” to the ’Cats’ 2024 recruiting class, and the staff expected her to make an instant impact.
While the elder Miles sister recorded six points in her first two games, she failed to tally a point against Boston College, and her shooting percentage dipped to .182 following the loss.
Although Campbell and senior midfielder Emerson Bohlig have provided NU with speed and finesse on the attacking end, Amonte Hiller continues to search for more consistent production from depth pieces.
Goalkeeping future hangs in the balance
When news broke of Sweitzer’s high-profile transfer on an early December morning, the ’Cats seemed to have found a short-term solution to their goalkeeping controversy. The move filled the empty position left in two-year starter Molly Laliberty’s stead.
While Inside Lacrosse reported that Sweitzer was unavailable for the season opener as she was “sorting through eligibility issues,” the former Syracuse star made her debut Saturday against the Eagles.
The position is now almost certainly Sweitzer’s to lose, marking the third consecutive season with a transfer starting between the pipes. Madison Doucette was the most recent high school goalkeeper recruit to start more than two games in any season for NU.
Doucette was recruited in the 2018 class and developed under former goalkeeper coach Tim McCormack, the current Johns Hopkins head coach, as a freshman in 2019.
Although redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Francesca Argentieri may be the starter in waiting with an additional two seasons of eligibility, Amonte Hiller has found viable options in the transfer portal in what is now two of the last three years.
Look no further than Drexel goalkeeper Jenika Cuocco, who entered the portal this past offseason before electing to stay with the Dragons. Should Cuocco once again test the waters, Amonte Hiller — who reportedly recruited Cuocco during her time in the transfer portal — may seek Cuocco’s services for her final season of eligibility.
Carroll, Fujinaga bolster new defensive dynamic
Amid a myriad of defensive departures, one first-year made a rapid impression on the NU coaching staff — freshman defender Mary Carroll. It didn’t matter if she was matched up with Taylor or the veteran influx of attackers. Carroll made impact plays whenever she stepped on the field during fall practices.
Carroll’s play in both intrasquad scrimmages and fall ball afforded her the opportunity to start the season opener against Notre Dame on Feb. 7. Her inclusion in the lineup made Carroll the first freshman defender to start a season opener since now-senior defender Sammy White did so during the 2022 season.
Alongside Carroll, Fujinaga has carved out a consistent starting role in her lone year with the ’Cats. The former All-Ivy League defender at Penn has linked up with White and graduate student defender Jane Hansen, all of whom are playing in their final collegiate seasons.
Amonte Hiller has also utilized Rosga as a defensive midfielder. The former five-star recruit transferred from Maryland in the summer and appears to occupy a bevy of roles for NU. When the ’Cats match up with a fast-paced, clinical attack like Boston College, expect Rosga’s minutes’ share to increase.
The thing about expectations
The Big Ten just had a weekend to forget. Michigan fell 12-6 to Yale, Maryland looked completely overfaced in a 15-9 loss to Syracuse and NU saw the Eagles soar into enemy territory and plant their proverbial flag.
It’s difficult to forecast a potential Big Ten winner, especially with the typical top-three squads faltering in such a fashion. That said, the expectation for the ’Cats remains contention for a Big Ten title and a lengthy postseason run to boot.
Is NU a national championship-caliber team at this juncture? No. But the beauty of the collegiate lacrosse season is that it spans well beyond February.
While the ’Cats may currently be several steps behind Boston College and No. 2 North Carolina, NU is not a program that merely sinks into desert sand.
Email: jacobepstein2026@u.northwestern.edu
X: @jakeepste1n
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