Northwestern found itself in a familiar position Sunday morning.
For the fourth straight season, the ’Cats were playing in the national championship. After winning it all in 2023, NU came up empty handed the following two seasons. The powerhouse program, boasting eight titles, was looking to get back to its winning ways.
As the Wildcats (19-3, 7-1 Big Ten) trailed North Carolina 11-9 entering the fourth quarter, the possibility of coming up short once again loomed large. But despite momentum and recent history stacked against NU, the team possessed a unique upper hand: home field advantage.
With Lake Show faithful packed into Martin Stadium, the ’Cats scored five unanswered goals, beating the Tar Heels (19-2, 10-0 ACC) 14-11 to secure the program’s ninth national championship. NU avenged its loss to North Carolina in last year’s final game and became the first team since Maryland in 1986 to win the title on its home turf.
“This was something special for our team, for our program, for our university,” coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said postgame Sunday. “I am literally so grateful that (Athletic Director) Mark Jackson brought this to the Midwest.”
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Despite a dreary start to the morning in Evanston, the sun escaped from the clouds, beckoning 8,316 fans to the shores of Lake Michigan for the final game of the lacrosse season. It’s the all-time highest attendance mark for a ’Cats women’s sporting event.
Amonte Hiller applauded the in-person support, saying, “The student section, are you kidding me?”
“I’ve never been in a situation where we’ve had the most fans,” she said. “I know that was a huge asset to us. Their energy carried us, and I’m just so grateful for them all coming out.”
While much of the buzz focused on the two featured Tewaaraton Award finalists — senior attacker Madison Taylor and Tar Heels attacker Chloe Humphrey — the duo’s performances didn’t exactly match the hype. Taylor scored one goal but tied former NU legend Hannah Nielsen’s title-game record with six assists, while Humphrey tallied two goals on 11 shots.
Leading the offensive charge in Taylor’s place was freshman attacker Gabriella McCollester, who entered Sunday’s game with six career goals. She scored a game-high four goals, including the game-tying fourth-quarter score, while filling in for senior attacker Lucy Munro, who exited the game with an injury in the first quarter.
Taylor assisted on two of McCollester’s goals and said she was unsurprised by her teammate’s impact.
“Gaby just came in and stepped up, but I knew she was capable of that,” Taylor said postgame Sunday. “I’ve seen it every single day of practice, and she amazes me every single day.”
After the ’Cats took an early 3-0 lead, North Carolina answered back, and the score sat even at 6-6 at halftime. It marked the first title game to be tied at halftime since 2018.
During the third quarter, the Tar Heels grabbed the momentum and took a 9-7 advantage. They seemed to extend their lead to three scores with a goal from attacker Reese King, but a successful challenge from Amonte Hiller overturned the score and NU cut the deficit to one less than 30 seconds later. Amonte Hiller credited the review to the team’s IT department, which she said made her “very confident” about getting the call correct.
Despite the two-goal swing, the ’Cats trailed entering the fourth quarter. Slowly but surely, they churned out goals while the defense limited North Carolina’s No. 1 scoring offense. After sophomore attacker Aditi Foster put NU ahead for the first time since the second quarter, Tar Heels attacker Caroline Godine seemed to find the equalizing goal before it was reversed once again.
The ’Cats scored twice more — the second of which was Taylor’s lone goal — to extend their lead to 14-11. Taylor leaves NU with 483 career points, tying former teammate Izzy Scane for the program record. As the final buzzer sounded, Taylor officially bookended her career with national championships.
“I don’t know what else is better than that,” she said postgame Sunday. “That was like an ending that you would see in a movie, but it just happened in real life.”
On top of the seniors winning it all for the second time, Amonte Hiller etched her name further into history, as she now stands alone as the winningest coach in NCAA Championship history with nine titles.
The win once again showed the might of Midwest lacrosse, and will hopefully inspire young fans in attendance to play at a high level, Amonte Hiller said.
“This game is universal,” she said. “You can be any shape, any size, and you can do well. And I think that’s the thing that I love about this game the most, you can be from anywhere.”
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