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May 24, 2026; Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats celebrates a goal against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half at Martin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images
The hard fight is over. The ‘Cats are national champions.
Northwestern picked up its ninth national championship in program history on Sunday afternoon, taking down the North Carolina Tar Heels 14-11 at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. After scoring just six goals all season long before the title game, Gabriella McCollester led the Wildcats with four on the day. Madison Taylor ended with a team-high seven points: with one goal and six assists.
After taking a 5-3 lead early in the second quarter, the UNC rallied to go on a 6-2 run, making the score 9-7 by the middle of the third frame. With its backs against the wall, Northwestern’s championship DNA shined brighter than ever, as the ‘Cats went on a 7-2 run of their own, including a 5-0 run in the fourth, to claim a national title.
Here are the final takeaways from not only the ‘Cats’ National Championship Game victory, but their season at large.
Defense really does win championships
For a moment, it looked like, once again, the national title was going to slip out of the ‘Cats’ claws.
After leading early, Northwestern trailed 9-11 with just over 17 minutes left to save its season. North Carolina’s offense was surging, and the ‘Cats offense was struggling to keep pace.
With a championship on the line, it was the ‘Cats’ defense that rose to stifle the nation’s best scoring offense, delivering NU its ninth national title. Northwestern shut out UNC the rest of way, closing its season with a clean slate in the final frame.
Of course, All-American goalie Jenika Cuocco was phenomenal, finishing the game with 11 saves and a .500 save percentage. One could argue that the best of Cuocco’s performance came in the first half, as the graduate senior notched seven saves, containing a Tar Heel offense that fired off 21 shots, 13 of which were on target, from running away with the game early on.
Down the stretch, it was Northwestern’s back-line defenders who starred, completely neutralizing the Tar Heels’ high-flying attackers. After averaging 10.7 shots per quarter through the third period, UNC got off just four shots with its season on the line; suffocated by Northwestern’s defenders, the Tar Heels had no room to get the ball to the cage.
In her postgame presser, head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller specifically shouted out Jaylen Rosga, who, alongside Mary Carroll, led the Wildcats with three caused turnovers. In reality, it was a team effort from NU’s defense.
Carroll, Mckenzie Brown, Reese Hansen. Names that should go down in Northwestern athletics history for pushing the ‘Cats over the mountaintop by shutting down the Tar Heels.
People always say that defense wins championships, and that was more true than ever Sunday in the ‘Cats’ victory over North Carolina.
Kelly Amonte Hiller is the GOAT
Nobody has ever done it like Kelly Amonte Hiller: the GOAT of women’s lacrosse.
With the ‘Cats’ national championship victory on Sunday, NU’s head coach has now won eleven total national championships in collegiate women’s lacrosse:
When coach Amonte Hiller stepped foot onto Northwestern Medicine Field on Sunday, she already was making history, appearing in her 12th national championship game, tying an NCAA record across all sports shared by UCLA’s legendary basketball coach John Wooden. She and the ‘Cats then went on to cut down the nets, securing KAH her ninth national title as a coach to become the most decorated head coach in women’s lacrosse history, passing the head coach of her playing days at Maryland, Cindy Timchal, who amassed eight titles with the Terrapins.
As Inside NU’s editor-in-chief emeritus Yanyan Li noted, Amonte Hiller inherited a Northwestern women’s lacrosse program in 2001 that was broken. It had been cut from varsity status and was without direction as it struggled to find its path in a sport dominated by the East Coast.
A quarter-century later, Amonte Hiller has built one of the greatest dynasties in the history of college athletics, winning a ninth national championship in front of a near-sellout home crowd.
The GOAT, without question. But it’s nice to have a resounding reminder.
Next year, Northwestern will still have a Final Four level offense
Looking ahead to next season, the biggest takeaway from this game that ‘Cats fans should have is that the offense will recover despite its imminent losses.
Throughout the season, pundits have wondered whether this was the last year in Northwestern lacrosse’s most recent championship window, with Taylor, the No. 1 pick in the WLL draft and NU’s top point scorer, set to graduate in the coming weeks. On top of that, another two of Northwestern’s top point scorers, Maddie Epke and Olivia Adamson, have also now played their final game in a ‘Cats jersey.
Between Taylor, Epke and Adamson (who only played 12 games this season), the ‘Cats will be losing 211 points next season. That’s no small number.
However, with major offensive performances from non-senior ‘Cats fueling NU’s national title game victory, it seems that Northwestern will be just fine next year around the cage.
In fact, Taylor’s lone-goal late in the fourth quarter was the only score all game long by a senior Wildcat. Until 1:18 remaining in the game, the ‘Cats scored 13 goals by the sticks of non-seniors, with McCollester (first-year) scoring four, Aditi Foster (sophomore) and Taylor Lapointe (junior) scoring hat tricks and Abby LoCascio (junior) finding the net twice.
Barring a major transfer portal addition, Foster is set to be the no. 1 option for the ‘Cats in the 2027 season, after finishing second to Taylor in points scored this season with 69.
From April onward, Foster was unbelievable for Amonte Hiller’s squad, scoring hat tricks in eight of NU’s final eleven games. Two of said performances came in each of the ‘Cats’ Final Four games, as the sophomore showed up for her team when it needed her the most.
Lapointe will be right behind her. The junior finished the year as the ‘Cats’ no. 3 points scorer with 36 goals and 22 assists. However, 26% of Lapointe’s points came in the final three games of Northwestern’s season.
Lapointe had five points against Colorado, seven points against Johns Hopkins and then three goals Sunday in the national championship game, emerging as a leader of the Wildcats’ offense in the NCAA Tournament:
Led by Foster and Lapointe, who have proven themselves on the biggest stages in the sport late this season, the ‘Cats will have a powerful one-two punch that should fill Taylor’s absence.
However, what could be most important to the ‘Cats’ offensive longevity is Gabriella McCollester. The unsuspecting first-year hero scored four goals in the title game, leading the ‘Cats in goals for her first time all season, double her previous single-game career high (2) that she set back in February against Marquette.
McCollester’s championship valor shows that she is another Wildcat who might be ready to take a big step next season, with similarity, perhaps, to Foster’s breakout this season as a sophomore.
Last year, Foster scored just 12 goals, but had four goals in the NCAA Tournament, becoming a key piece of the Wildcats’ offense late in the season. The Philadelphia native carried that momentum into her second season in a purple jersey, becoming Northwestern’s no. 2 option, notching 54 goals and 15 assists.
McCollester’s first-year season has followed a similar trajectory. McCollester finished the season with 10 goals, four of which came in the NCAA Tournament, as a result of her performance on Sunday. With a full offseason in Evanston under her belt, McCollester, who averaged over three goals per game her senior year at Boulder High School, seems primed to be a major contributor in the Wildcats’ offense next season.
With a new-look offense led by Foster, Lapointe and McCollester, Northwestern should have confidence when it takes the field in 2027 looking to defend its ninth national title.
But, for now, it’s title time in Chicago. The ‘Cats are champions.
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