When Erin Coykendall (Communication ’23, SPS ’24) returns to Ryan Fieldhouse Friday night, she will be greeted by autograph-seeking fans and a halftime video tribute. But for the all-time Northwestern great, the game serves as an opportunity for a reunion.
“Anytime I get to come back and see my friends is awesome,” Coykendall told The Daily.
Nearly two years removed from her time as a Wildcat, Coykendall said she maintains relationships with the coaching staff and current players, including redshirt junior attacker Rachel Weiner, whom she considers one of her best friends.
Coykendall returns to campus with three other Lake Show alumni, attacker Izzy Scane (Communication ’22, Kellogg ’24), defender Jane Hansen (Communication ’23) and defender Sammy White (Communication ’25). The members of NU’s 2023 national championship squad will greet fans ahead of the No. 4-ranked ’Cats’ bout with Marquette, deemed “Legends Night.”
NU honored Scane, the program’s all-time leading scorer, at last season’s opening game and is now honoring Coykendall, Hansen and White for the first time since they departed from the program.
Coykendall received First Team All-American honors in 2023 and 2024 and was named a Tewaaraton Award finalist in 2023. From 2021-2024, she finished in the top three on the ’Cats in points. During her five-year career, NU made the Final Four each year besides 2020, when no NCAA Tournament took place.
She said she attributes the program’s success to its culture, something she felt as she walked around campus as a recruit. Coykendall praised coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s recruiting skills and ability to foster a community within her team.
“You can’t have this level of sustained success without (the culture) being a real foundation of the program,” Coykendall said.
Her 386 career points are the fourth most by a player in program history, a representation of her dominance. She held the third most until Sunday, when her former teammate, senior attacker Madison Taylor, nabbed third place with a five-goal performance.
Amonte Hiller found Taylor’s accomplishment “unbelievable,” since she said she hadn’t realized Taylor was on par with Coykendall, one of the program’s best players. Coykendall, conversely, said she was unsurprised with the level of success Taylor has reached.
“I got to learn from her, and I’m sure she could say she learned from all of us, too,” Coykendall said. “She’s such a hard worker and just a good teammate, which I think is so important.”
Coykendall connected with Weiner and Taylor despite three-year age gaps, something she said the team looks past to help build the culture. She said Amonte Hiller would group players from all grades together, including freshmen and graduate students, to ensure newcomers didn’t feel “inferior.”
She also discussed how, outside of practice, the team did everything together. Whenever some players who lived in a house together were having a bonfire, they would invite the whole team.
When Coykendall attends what she says will be her first game in the Fieldhouse as a spectator, she will watch Taylor and several former teammates take the field. Though she is grateful to be honored and to represent the program, she said she is excited to attend on behalf of her team.
“The Fieldhouse is always such an electric environment to get to play with all the fans so close to you, and it’s always packed,” Coykendall said, “So it’ll be cool to see that from the other side. And obviously the team is awesome, so I’m just excited.”
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