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When Northwestern took down North Carolina 14-11 at Martin Stadium to secure the national championship, head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller asserted herself as the greatest women’s lacrosse coach of all time.
In May, Amonte Hiller tallied her ninth national title, passing the previous collegiate record of eight set by her former head coach from her playing days at Maryland, Cindy Timchal.
In this way, Coach Amonte Hiller’s 2026 championship will always be remembered as historic. However, her eight other titles were also quite significant.
In this article, Inside NU ranks Kelly Amonte Hiller’s nine national championships, pitting her most recent addition to her trophy collection alongside her eight previous titles.
Criteria: Coach Hiller’s national championships were weighed considering the meaning of the title to her legacy as a head coach. The dominance of the team throughout the season, the significance of the championship in the landscape of her career and the drama of each respective title game were the biggest factors.
9. 2012: 21-2, beat Syracuse 8-6 in title game
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Led by the legendary Shannon Smith (66 goals, 28 assists), who concluded her career at NU as its all-time leading goal scorer, the Wildcats’ 2012 title started KAH’s second streak of consecutive national titles. Living true to the ‘Cardiac ‘Cats name, this team won five games by two or less points, including the National Semifinal against Maryland and the National Championship against Syracuse.
However, this title comes in last on the list, as the group lost twice to a single team in one season, the Florida Gators, who proved they were a better team than the ‘Cats in the regular season, but did not make it to the title game.
8. 2006: 20-1, beat Dartmouth 7-4 in title game
With the championship in 2006, KAH won consecutive titles for the first time as a head coach. Northwestern knocked off Dartmouth in the National Championship 7-4, but the real two best teams in the country, all year long, were NU and Duke. Duke got the best of the ‘Cats 16-10 on its home turf in early April and claimed the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, but the ‘Cats bounced back in May, winning the National Semifinal on a game-winning goal from Sarah Albrecht with 37 seconds remaining in the first half of overtime.
7. 2008: 21-1, beat Penn 10-6 in title game
In the first of Hannah Nielson’s two Tewaaraton Award-winning seasons (51 goals, 63 assists), NU won its fourth consecutive national title, in a 21-1 season. There was doubt about whether or not the ‘Cats would get the job done after they fell 11-7 to Penn, the team that it would face in the National Championship, in late April. However, in its eventual rematch, NU was the better team through and through, taking a 10-6 victory, with 11 saves coming from Morgan Lathrop.
6. 2007: 21-1, beat Virginia 15-13 in title game
This was a team anchored in its defense, that allowed just 135 goals behind goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop, the Inside Lacrosse National Goalkeeper of the Year, who finished her time at Northwestern with a program-leading 553 saves and .506 save percentage. The NCAA’s all-time leader in draw controls, Kristen Kjellman (66 goals, 88 draw controls), who won her second Tewaaraton Award in 2007, helped lead the way defensively as well. The ‘Cats held their opponents to five or less goals 11 times throughout the season, including its 12-2 smothering of Penn in the National Semifinal.
5. 2011: 21-2, beat Maryland 8-7 in title game
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After winning five consecutive titles from 2005 to 2009, the ‘Cats dropped the ball in 2010, as KAH’s alma mater Maryland ended their reign as champions.
2011 marked NU’s resurgence, as the ‘Cats returned to the top of the women’s lacrosse world with a dominant 21-2 season. These ‘Cats were gritty, sporting the smallest goal differential (121) of KAH’s national championship winning teams. Though, when the lights were brightest, NU always delivered, winning six games by two goals or less, including its one-point victories in the National Semifinal and National Championship.
However, what makes this title most iconic is that it is Coach Amonte Hiller’s only time beating Maryland, the school where she won two titles as a player, in the national title game. The ‘Cats got their vengeance in a rematch of 2010’s National Championship, taking back the trophy in an 8-7 victory.
4. 2026: 19-3, beat North Carolina 14-11 in title game
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Of Coach Amonte Hiller’s nine title teams, this may have very well been the worst. The ‘Cats suffered three losses early in the regular season, the most of all the teams on this list. However, when all said and done, this was one of KAH’s most impressive coaching performances, as she took a team to the promise land despite early-season adversity and not necessarily having the nation’s MOST talented players — Maryland’s JJ Suriano and North Carolina’s Chloe Humphrey were often touted as the nation’s best by the media, though NU attacker Madison Taylor (97 goals, 42 assists) ended up winning the Tewaaraton Award. Amonte Hiller got full buy-in to her “don’t stop believing” mantra.
Additionally, this was Coach Amonte Hiller’s ninth national title, which elevated her above Timchal’s eight championships. Taking this, with the fact that KAH’s 2026 ‘Cats became the first team every to win a national championship outside the Eastern Time Zone, on their home field in Evanston, it’s no doubt that this title was iconic.
3. 2023: 21-1, beat Boston College 18-6 in title game
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After winning seven national titles in eight years from 2005 to 2012, NU suffered an 11-year long championship drought. The ‘Cats made the Final Four in 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022, but were unable to make it to the national title game.
In 2023, Northwestern made it back to the mountaintop, going an undefeated 21-0 after suffering a 15-16 loss to Syracuse in its season opener. The ‘Cats were led by a signature, prolific Coach Amonte Hiller offense, that scored 373 goals off of the Tewaaraton Award winning efforts of Izzy Scane (99 goals, 35 assists) and a team-leading 50 assists from Erin Coykendall and finished the season with an unreal modern era goal differential of 196.
On top of all that, NU had one of its most dominant playoff runs, winning its final three games in the NCAA Tournament by an average margin of 10 goals, including an 18-6 thrashing of Boston College in the National Championship.
2. 2005: 21-0, beat Virginia 13-10 in title game
This title will forever be iconic, standing as Coach Amonte Hiller’s first national title as a coach and the start of her women’s lacrosse dynasty in Evanston. As has been true for most of KAH’s coaching career, NU played its entire season on the lacrosse field at the old Thomas Athletic Complex, playing its home games in freezing conditions through the winter. However, that didn’t stop Northwestern, who won every game but its season opener, a 6-5 win on the road over North Carolina, by a margin of multiple goals, standing comfortably atop the national rankings for the entirety of the season.
Knocking off Ohio State in the ALC Championship 18-5 and Virginia in the National Championship 13-10, KAH’s ‘Cats nabbed their first of two undefeated seasons. The 2005 title will be remembered forever.
1. 2009: 23-0, beat North Carolina 21-7 in title game
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This is probably the greatest women’s lacrosse team of all time. Led by back-to-back Tewaaraton Award winner Nielsen (59 goals, 83 assists), Katrina Dowd (75 goals, 13 assists) and Danielle Spencer (64 goals, 20 assists), Northwestern had six players score more than 30 goals, coming together to create an unrelenting offense that scored a nation-leading 407 goals. With Lathrop, the back-to-back Inside Lacrosse National Goalkeeper of the Year, anchoring the defense, the undefeated ‘Cats were untouchable all season long, winning their games by an average margin of 10.7 points… that is insane!
On top of their regular season dominance, NU’s 21-7 thrashing of UNC in the National Championship is the greatest margin of victory of KAH’s nine title game wins, punctuating the pure dominance of this 2009 team.
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