Wildcat fans packed Martin Stadium to watch their team defeat North Carolina, 14-11, to win the program's ninth National Championship.
Northwestern's 14-11 victory over North Carolina in the Women's Lacrosse National Championship on Sunday was historic for many reasons.
The Wildcats' ninth title made Kelly Amonte Hiller the winningest head coach in the history of the sport, while star attacker Madison Taylor likely secured the Tewaaraton Award by bookending her college career with championships.
It was also significant because it marked the first time that the women's lacrosse Final Four was held outside of the East Coast. The game has spread across the country, and on Sunday morning, the Midwest showed out.
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium hosted 8,316 fans, the most ever by an NU women's sports team. The game broke the Wildcats' previous record from 2024, when Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes came to Welsh-Ryan Arena.
"This was really, really special," Amonte Hiller said. "At the beginning of the game, when those rockets went off on the roof, I'm like, this is my dream right here, to bring this to Northwestern. All the people that have helped us get here, the alums, the administrators, and then all the work that went into this weekend. I'm really proud that the Midwest showed up and it was a great game today."
When Amonte Hiller led the Wildcats to their first national title in 2005, it was the first time a team outside of the East Coast had won the championship in women's college lacrosse. Twenty-one years and nine championships later, Northwestern is still the only non-East Coast program to do so, but the game has grown so much in that time.
She and the Wildcats — whose dominance has spanned over two decades — have been a major part in that.
"I really hope that today, all those young kids in the stands get inspired to play at a really high level, and just really dream about being on that field," Amonte Hiller said. "And that's where it starts. It's a little seed of belief in yourself, and that's what pushes you to go out and do wall ball in the backyard and go out and believe that you can be Maddie Taylor or Gabbie McCollester or Jenika [Cuocco].
"I think that I'm just proud that we've been able to help grow this sport... This game is universal. 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. It doesn't matter."
