Northwestern tops – Freshman Gabriella McCollester scored four goals after Lucy Munro exited with an injury as No. 1 Northwestern defeated No. 2 North Carolina 14-11 for its ninth NCAA women’s lacrosse national championship at Martin Stadium in Evanston.
At Martin Stadium in Evanston, the moment Lucy Munro went down in the first quarter, Northwestern’s rhythm fractured — and then rebuilt itself in the second half.
Freshman Gabriella McCollester, who entered after the senior attacker left the game with an injury, answered with a career-high four goals. She scored all four in the second half, including a hat-trick that tied the game at 11 in the fourth quarter.
Northwestern, the No. 1 team. finished the night with a decisive turn: heaping pressure after halftime and then shutting the Tar Heels down when it mattered most. The Wildcats scored five unanswered goals in the final quarter. holding North Carolina scoreless for the last 15 minutes to complete a 14-11 win over No. 2 North Carolina and clinch the program’s ninth national title.
The scoring began fast. Taylor Lapointe scored the first two goals of the game within the first two minutes. and Aditi Foster added another to force a North Carolina timeout five minutes into the game. Lapointe and Foster each finished with a hat trick. while Madison Taylor recorded seven points for the Wildcats — six assists and the final goal of the game.
North Carolina didn’t fold. The Tar Heels evened things up at 6-6 before halftime, then surged early after the break with a 3-1 run to take its first lead of the game.
One of the storylines came through Chloe Humphrey, the Tewaaraton Award winner from last season, who scored her 109th goal of the season to tie the Division I single-season record. But in the final stretch, Northwestern’s defense and goaltending locked in.
Jenika Cuocco made 11 saves on 22 shots as the Wildcats took control late. McCollester’s hat-trick goal tied the game at 11, and from there Northwestern strung together those unanswered scores that swung the championship.
For Northwestern, the win carried extra weight. The Wildcats are the first team to win a national championship on its home field since 1986.
Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, who has coached Northwestern since 2002 when she revived the program, now has her ninth national championship. With this title, she became the all-time winningest coach in the Division I national championship game.
Northwestern UNC North Carolina women's lacrosse NCAA national championship Martin Stadium Evanston Gabriella McCollester Lucy Munro Taylor Lapointe Aditi Foster Madison Taylor Jenika Cuocco Kelly Amonte Hiller