They say the third time’s a charm.
Northwestern Lacrosse (18-3, 7-1 B1G) defeated the University of North Carolina (19-1, 10-0 ACC 14-11, using a 5-0 fourth quarter, clutch plays and players rising up to the ocassion to win its first national championship since 2023. The ‘Cats became the first team to win a title on its home turf since Maryland did it in 1986.
Under partly cloudy skies that dried up the pregame rain, over 8,000 fans filled nearly every seat in the lakefront stadium, turning out in historic numbers. Both teams clearly fed off the raucous crowd with a contentious and physical battle on the field.
Gabrielle McCollester was the MVP of this game, shattering her career-high with four goals. Aditi Foster and Taylor Lapointe each had hat tricks, while Madison Taylor had a game-high six assists. Abby LoCascio also netted two goals. Jenika Cuocco was resilient in goal, earning 11 saves. NU forced 19 turnovers from UNC.
Northwestern got off to a hot start, with Madison Smith winning the draw for the ‘Cats. Mckenzie Brown powered down the field, and Northwestern held possession in the UNC fan for just under a minute before Lapointe triumphantly converted a cross-body shot past UNC’s Betty Nelson for the game’s first score.
Right off the second draw, Taylor fought through to take control of the draw. Northwestern continued to put pressure on the Tar Heels with another extended period in the fan, and Lapointe doubled the ‘Cats’ lead just two minutes into the game, knocking down a Tar Heel defender and powering her way through the 8-meter arc.
It felt as though the Wildcats could not lose momentum in the opening five minutes. After Northwestern won its third draw of the game, Maddie Epke found Kate Ratanaproeksa, but she could not convert on her shot. UNC regained control of the ball, but was stopped just a few yards into its attacking half after Jaylen Rosga cleaned up a ground ball.
The Tar Heels’ zone defense seemed to fail itself over and over again. Foster ducked between gaps left by UNC and fired past Nelson to make the score 3-0 with 11:32 to go in the first quarter. Having little to say, North Carolina called a timeout.
Out of the break, the Tar Heels won their first draw control of the game. Mary Carroll quickly put a stop to any offensive ambition UNC had, however, as she checked the ball out of Kaleigh Harden’s hand and allowed Cuocco to keep the ball in Northwestern’s possession.
UNC’s first two promising shots came from Eliza Osburn and Chloe Humphrey, who fired just wide of the net. Though Rosga won the ball back for the ‘Cats, a coach’s challenge from UNC put Lucy Munro in the penalty box and allowed UNC to take back its offensive momentum.
Humphrey capitalized on the man-down opportunity, receiving the ball just outside of the fan and running through Northwestern’s defense to get on the board and make it a 3-1 Northwestern lead.
The Heels continued to put pressure on NU, but the ‘Cats didn’t budge with their marking even as the Tar Heels fired three shots in the span of 34 seconds. A dangerous shot from Addison Pattillo almost got UNC back on the board, but Cuocco did well to interfere with her stick.
Just seconds later, a great screen from Taylor allowed Foster on the right side of the UNC net to find Abby LoCascio, who released quickly to make Northwestern’s lead 4-1 with 6:14 to go.
Munro then went down with a non-contact injury to her left leg and had to be escorted off the field. The play after, Osburn beat a Northwestern defender and streaked through the 8-meter arc to slam one past Cuocco. Osburn scored in an identical fashion 40 seconds later, leaving Northwestern with just a one-goal lead with 3:20 left in the first quarter.
The back half of the first quarter saw Northwestern become a little flustered. At times, the ‘Cats seemed to struggle maintaining their poised zone system, and Cuocco had to clean up their messes with an incredible foot save. Northwestern finished the first 15 up 4-3, though it felt like it had lived 1,000 lives in the process.
Kaleigh Harden’s massive check to Noel Cumberland in the North Carolina box started the second quarter off as a shock to Northwestern, and Cuocco had to make a quick save against Humphrey. Northwestern then surged into the UNC fan, and Ratanaproeksa won a free position for the ‘Cats. Her shot to the lower right corner, however, was unable to sneak past Nelson.
Northwestern’s defense powered back to life thanks to a forced turnover by Ratanaproeksa with 11:41 to go in the second. Foster injected more life into the ‘Cats with an impressive run behind the Tar Heels’ net as she slung an underhanded shot past Nelson, making the game 5-3.
Cuocco continued to provide a major boost to the ‘Cats as she got her fifth save on the day off a shot from Kiley Mottice. Northwestern kept its defense tight on the Tar Heels, but that wasn’t enough to stop Darcy Felter from scoring a no-look behind-the-back shot through traffic. With 8:42 remaining in the first half, the ‘Cats maintained a tight 5-4 lead.
Osburn kept up the Tar Heels’ defensive pressure and picked a ball off Rosga to keep the ball in Northwestern’s defensive end. The ball made its way to Chloe Humphrey, who found Addison Pattillo. Pattillo was able to feint her way through the fan and fire a close-range shot at Cuocco, tying the game 5-5 with 6:50 to go.
One minute later, Taylor snagged her second assist of the game as she found an unmarked Locascio coming behind the right post. With that pass, Taylor broke the career points record in the NCAA tournament.
Though Northwestern did its best to keep its defensive restrained, a foul on Addison Pattillo allowed her to score off a free position, again leveling the game at 6-6.
A subsequent linkup between Epke, Lapointe and Taylor almost got Taylor her first goal of the game, but her shot clinked off the left post. Epke tried to convert inside the fan just a minute later, but Nelson made a confident stop.
The ‘Cats’ turnover woes began to catch up to them as the first half came to a close, and a nervy 2-on-1 Tar Heel play on the attack saw Northwestern on the defensive. Fortunately for the Wildcats, a Cuocco save and block allowed the game to remain level at 6-6 at halftime.
After two quarters, Northwestern and UNC were head-to-head on draw controls (the ‘Cats had six to the Tar Heels’ seven), and each had seven turnovers. The ‘Cats tallied just 16 shots to UNC’s 21. Cuocco made seven saves to Nelson’s four.
Bursting into the third quarter, North Carolina won its eighth draw of the game. A physical sequence of plays allowed Northwestern to regain possession of the ball off a Pattillo foul, but the ball ended up back in Tar Heel hands. Eva Ingrilli bounded around the net and tucked one under Cuocco, letting UNC get its first lead of the game at 7-6.
In an instantaneous turnaround from the ‘Cats, Taylor heaved a ball to McCollester just outside of the crease, who rapidly fired past now Lexi Zenk to tie the game 7-7. But Pattillo responded just a minute later, getting a hat-trick and putting the Tar Heels at the advantage once again.
A series of contentious foul calls, which left head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller visibly frustrated, led to UNC’s ninth goal of the game off a free position. Northwestern’s tight marking in the 8-meter arc began to taper off, and Caroline Godine exploited space left by the ‘Cats by finding Reese King to push UNC’s lead to three. The call, however, was overturned due to a crease violation by King, leaving the score as 9-7 Northwestern.
Epke then capitalized on the overturned call, leaving a UNC defender in the dust to fire a shot that trickled into the bottom-right corner of the net past Zenk. The game, which a few minutes before, seemed to be out of Northwestern’s hands, then had the ‘Cats down just 9-8.
With 6:36 to go, Northwestern let Eva Ingilli slip outside the crease completely unmarked. Ingilli then received a quick pass from Godine and easily put it in the back of the net, increasing UNC’s lead to 10-8.
A silky smooth linkup between a behind-the-net Taylor, a top-of the 8-meter-arc-Epke and an unmarked McCollester outside the crease allowed McCollester to score her second of the game.
Cuocco made a jaw-dropping save on a point-blank shot from Felter minutes later, keeping the ‘Cats alive for what felt like the millionth time. But Kate Levy and Humphrey got the better of Cuocco with 2:24 to go in the third quarter, maintaining UNC’s lead at 11-9, which held through the quarter’s close.
Lapointe opened the fourth quarter for Northwestern with a last-second goal against the winding shot clock. Even as the ball tipped back and forth between halves and physicality ramped up between squads, Northwestern maintained possession
For her third goal of the game, McCollester made an incredible solo run through the fan to absolutely slam one past Zenk. Her goal was the ninth of her career, meaning that at that point, a third of her career goals had come from this NCAA National Championship. She tied the game at 11-11.
The ‘Cats clawed their way back out of their third-quarter deficit thanks to Foster, who ran to the crease and beat out three UNC defenders to put Northwestern up 12-11. The lead was Northwestern’s first since halfway through the second quarter.
Out of the media timeout, Charlotte Corkins won the draw for the Tar Heels, which set UNC up for a game-tying goal from Godine. Amonte Hiller then challenged the goal, and after three minutes of review, the call was overturned. With 6:37 to go, the ‘Cats maintained their 12-11 lead.
For her sixth assist on the day, Taylor found McCollester standing completely unmarked outside the crease, increasing Northwestern’s lead 13-11 with 6:03 to go in the fourth. Northwestern then ran the clock down on UNC’s attack the next play, forcing the Tar Heels to release a last-second shot that went straight to Cuocco. The ‘Cats found themselves caught in a similar bind on the attack the next play, but Amonte Hiler called a Northwestern timeout.
Out of the break, the Tar Heels ramped up their tempo on the attack, forcing Northwestern to make quick marking decisions. The ‘Cats handled it with grace, and they eventually got the ball up to Taylor, who held her position before streaking into the fan and grabbing her first goal of the game, pushing Northwestern up 14-11 with 1:18 to go in the game.
It was at this point that Amonte Hiller, who usually doesn’t jump to conclusions, put her hands on her head. The players followed suit. Surely, and totally, Northwestern had won the national championship on its home turf, in a fashion a master screenplay writer couldn’t have done a better job of creating.