As then-graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer corralled the game-winning save in the NCAA Tournament semifinals last May, she sealed an instant classic between Northwestern and Boston College, where the Wildcats came back from a five-goal deficit.
When No. 2 NU and the No. 3-ranked Eagles face off Friday night, another chapter of this now-storied rivalry will be stamped into history. Five of the last six matchups between these two squads have been decided by four goals or less, the sole outlier being the ’Cats’ dominant 18-6 national title win in 2023.
During NU’s preseason media availability, when asked about facing teams from last season, coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said she looks back on how the previous matchups went. She emphasized learning from every game and how it can be beneficial to pinpoint challenges from games past.
“We have a new team this year, Boston College has a new team this year,” Amonte Hiller said, “but we’re all trying to learn from our experiences against them last year.”
This is the fifth straight season with a regular season game between these squads, with a 2-2 split in the four prior games. The ’Cats and the Eagles have faced off nine times in their histories, starting in 2013, with NU leading the series 5-4.
The foes have also matched up in three straight Final Fours, where they traded national championship wins in 2023 and 2024 before the ’Cats claimed the semifinal win last year.
Amonte Hiller put it plainly when mentioning the two teams’ rosters — both programs are without a number of talents from last season’s semifinal. For the Eagles, they are looking to replace the top-scoring production from three graduates, including attacker Rachel Clark’s 106 goals.
On the other side, NU graduated players across the field. It lost its second and third scoring options, its top draw controller, an All-American defender and a strong goalkeeper.
Boston College represents one of multiple tough opponents for the ’Cats this season, along with defending champion No. 1 North Carolina, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Johns Hopkins and No. 13 Syracuse.
Senior attacker Madison Taylor said the tough schedule, full of semifinals and finals rematches, poses an exciting challenge.
“I think it will be good for us to compete with the best of the best,” Taylor said. “It’s a way to make you better as a person, as a player and as a team, so I’m super excited for that.”
This season’s Final Four will begin 105 days after Friday’s season opener. For the first time in NCAA history, it will be held outside of the Eastern time zone when it takes place at NU’s Martin Stadium.
The ’Cats have made three straight appearances in the national championship, but have fallen in the past two seasons. For Taylor and the rest of the team, the prospect of playing for a national title in front of their home crowd adds an extra motivator.
“It’s an awesome opportunity, and I think it’s an awesome opportunity for our sport as well,” Taylor said. “It definitely pushed us every day, especially for the younger generation of girls that want to play lacrosse here.”
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