Despite early struggles, Kelly Amonte Hiller guided Northwestern to a Big Ten title and historic wins, securing her seventh consecutive coaching honor.
As Northwestern continued singing its Lake Show ode, major conference honors landed for the Wildcats.
The Big Ten announced Tuesday that Kelly Amonte Hiller was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, marking the Northwestern women's lacrosse coach's seventh consecutive honor in this category.
Despite early-season struggles, including back-to-back losses to Ohio State and Syracuse, Amonte Hiller led the team to seven consecutive wins to close the regular season, including the Big Ten regular-season title and the Big Ten Tournament championship after defeating No. 4 Maryland 8-7.
Notably, Northwestern became the first team since Florida in 2012 to knock off multiple No. 1-ranked teams in the IWLCA poll in a single season, including beating North Carolina and Maryland during the regular season. With strong victories down the stretch, Northwestern ascended to No. 1 in the NCAA RPI rankings.
Since 2002, Amonte Hiller has led the program for over two decades, transforming it from a varsity program into a national powerhouse. As head coach, she's led Northwestern to eight NCAA national championships (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2023). Before entering the Big Ten era, the 'Cats won eight titles in the American Lacrosse Conference. On Sunday, Northwestern secured its fifth Big Ten Tournament title, achieving a historic four-peat.
For her players, Madison Taylor was named back-to-back Big Ten Attacker of the Year after recording 80 goals and 111 points in 18 games this season. Last year, she broke the NCAA single-season scoring record with 109 goals, cementing her status as one of college lacrosse's most dominant offensive players.
After her senior season, Taylor will step onto the professional level as she was selected by the Women's League Lacrosse (WLL)'s California Palms for the first pick in the first-ever College Draft this month.
Transfer goalie Jennika Cuocco also left her mark in her first Big Ten season. She was awarded IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week following her heroics against Maryland, where she posted a career-high 18 saves—the most in Big Ten Championship game history. Following the championship victory, Cuocco was named 2026 Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
The honor combined her performances in both tournament games. Against Michigan in the semifinals, she garnered nine saves in Northwestern's 9-7 victory. Throughout the tournament, Cuocco posted a stunning 65.9% save percentage across both wins.
The 'Cats secured an NCAA Tournament automatic bid with their 8-7 overtime victory in the Big Ten Championship over Maryland on April 26. They will learn their NCAA Tournament seeding during the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday, May 3, at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.