Northwestern let a little bit of suspense creep in during the second half of its NCAA Tournament semifinal Friday evening at Martin Stadium.
The top-seeded Wildcats built a seven-goal, first-half lead against fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins but went nearly 13 minutes in the third quarter without a goal as the Blue Jays pulled within three.
Northwestern didn’t let Johns Hopkins’ comeback attack get any closer though. The Wildcats scored four of the next five goals on their way to a 16-11 victory and a berth in their fourth straight national championship game.
More Top Picks Best Blue Light Blocking Glasses For Sleep
Photos: Northwestern beats Johns Hopkins 16-11 in NCAA women’s lacrosse semifinals
Northwestern (18-3) advances to play defending champion North Carolina (19-1) for the national title at 11 a.m. Sunday at Martin Stadium in a rematch of last year’s final. The second-seeded Tar Heels beat third-seeded Maryland 16-6 behind five goals apiece from Chloe Humphrey and Addison Pattillo.
“We talk about resetting a lot,” senior attacker Madison Taylor said. “I think it’s been a big thing of ours, and we’ve seen all year that there’s so many ups and downs in games, and it’s a game of runs.
“We usually take a deep breath and we try and reset our best and refocus. Especially for the offense, we just needed to stay focused and disciplined throughout the whole game, especially when they were playing zone.”
This NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse Final Four marked the first played outside of the Eastern time zone, and a good crowd of fans in purple filled the east and west bleachers at the Wildcats’ lakefront stadium. NU students and the band sat in the North stands, the students holding signs and “Lake Show” flags.
Northwestern didn’t disappoint, led by Taylor, who had four goals and four assists. Maddie Epke had four goals and two assists, and Aditi Foster added three goals.
Northwestern outshot Johns Hopkins 40-22. NU goalie Jenika Cuocco had six saves, including a huge stop against Blue Jays star Ava Angello with 3:34 to play.
NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller called it “a really special day for our program” and said she hoped even more fans would show up for the Sunday-morning championship. Taylor said they would remember it for the rest of their lives.
“That was my first time playing in front of that many people, and that was just so cool to see that many people support our program,” Epke said. “I think it really helped us to be in that environment where everyone was believing us in and cheering us on. It was awesome.”
The Wildcats enter Sunday’s game in search of their ninth national championship and first since 2023. They lost the last two title games, including 12-8 to North Carolina last year.
NU won the teams’ only previous meeting this season, 17-16 in overtime in Chapel Hill, N.C.
This one will be on NU’s turf. Northwestern is the first team with home-field advantage in a national final since Princeton in 2004. Maryland was the last team to win the title at home in 1986.
“We have a great rivalry,” Amonte Hiller said of North Carolina. “I’ve been in their shoes before where you lose to someone, and you have a high level of motivation. We know that.
“We focus on ourselves, and we have the opportunity to play on our home field in front of a big crowd, and we really want to give all of our whole heart to it. We know we have a very strong opponent ahead of us, and a motivated opponent ahead of us too. But we are a motivated team as well, and I think it will be a good battle.”
After falling behind 10-3 at halftime, Johns Hopkins (17-5) came out strong in the third quarter, scoring four straight goals — two from Angello and one each from Samantha DiCarlo and Lacey Downey.
Epke stopped the surge, scoring the Wildcats’ first goal of the third quarter with 2:19 to play to put NU on top 11-7. Taylor Lapointe scored less than a minute later to push the lead to five goals and added another early in the fourth. She also had five assists.
Epke’s fourth goal with 2:07 to play helped ease the pressure Johns Hopkins was putting on the Wildcats.
Angello led Johns Hopkins with three goals and an assist.
“It’s just resiliency knowing that you can always make a play, and even if the tides have turned a little, all it takes is one play or one person having each other’s back to turn it back the other way,” Amonte Hiller said. “It’s just that level of faith that gives our team the ability to not get rattled in those types of situations.”
Northwestern used an 8-1 run in the first half to take its halftime lead, capitalizing on Johns Hopkins’ 12 turnovers in the half.
The Blue Jays had two freshmen score in the first 8:20 of the game. Paige Willard scored just 42 seconds in. After Northwestern took a 2-1 lead, Blue Jays freshman McKenzey Craig scored a free-position goal with 6:40 to play in the first quarter.
More Top Picks Best Matcha Scoops
NU quickly responded. Epke scored 20 seconds later, and 13 seconds after that, Taylor took a pass from Epke and charged through traffic for her second goal of the game and a 4-2 lead.
Craig brought Johns Hopkins back within one late in the first quarter on a power-play goal.
But the Wildcats came out fast in the second quarter, with Kate Ratanaproeksa and Foster scoring in the first five minutes, and they didn’t slow down. Taylor and Foster each had three first-half goals.
Johns Hopkins coach Tim McCormack said draw controls were a big issue during NU’s run, and the Blue Jays found themselves scrapping for possessions. When they did have the ball, he thought their spacing wasn’t great and they were too predictable. Northwestern had a 20-9 advantage in draw controls for the game.
“I will give credit to Northwestern. They switched into a zone at that moment in time (in the first half), which was probably a great change,” he said. “And that probably takes a possession or so we had to get yourself acclimated with that. When you are dealing with limited possessions, two is going to hurt you, and it certainly did there.”
Northwestern has multiple seniors on its team, including Taylor, Epke and Cuocco, and as the Wildcats head into the title game, Amonte Hiller said her advice to them is “play as free as possible and try to leave your whole heart on the field for the people around you.”
The players are ready for the last chapter.
“We made it to the last day, the very last day we could get to,” Taylor said. “That was our goal and we’re so grateful for that. So we’ve got 60 more minutes left together no matter what. Couldn’t be more happy.”