On Sunday, May 24th 2026, Northwestern played UNC in women’s lacrosse. For the second time this season, the two teams had a rematch. While UNC was favored to win both games, Northwestern put up a tough fight, to end up with Northwestern taking the win. UNC and Northwestern fought hard and tough. I was lucky to be in attendance for this 2026 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship game as it was one of the most exciting games of the season.
In the first quarter, Northwestern took the first goal. With Taylor Lapointe, midfielder and attacker scoring the goal after only 58 seconds into the start of the game. This was not it for Lapointe. Another back to back goal would be scored only 120 seconds later. This had Northwestern taking a 2-0 lead early on to the game. Northwestern soon went on to score another goal to have the score 3-0. The fast start soon set the tone and pace of the game for both teams. Despite a rocky start, UNC only fought back harder. With North Carolina’s impressive offense, they knew they were still in the game.
North Carolina eventually fought back with star player Chloe Humphrey from North Carolina taking the first goal for UN. Throughout the second quarter, UNC quickly came back, and by halftime, the score was now 6-6.
With the teams now tied, they were both in this game. North Carolina eventually came to a 11-9 lead and seemed to have this game under their belt. One player who played a major role in their comeback was Humphrey. Humphrey ended up having 2 goals and 2 assists during this game. She also tied the NCAA single season record for goals scored. This was an impressive highlight that took place during this intense matchup. However, Northwestern stayed calm and composed with ball possession and was ready to comeback.
During the 4th quarter, Northwestern had an incredible quarter. Northwestern prevented UNC from scoring any goals during this quarter with their outstanding defense. Many players stood out during this quarter including one being the goalie for Northwestern: Jenika Cuocco. Cuocco stood out throughout the whole game and made many saves that secured the win for Northwestern. Cucco finished with 11 total saves. Another player was Madison Taylor, a key player for Northwestern’s offense who ended up having multiple assists that secured the win for Northwestern. Overall, in the game Taylor had 7 goals. All of these factors played a key role in Northwestern making the comeback they needed for the win. Northwestern put up 5 goals during this quarter to end the game with a 14-11 win with the Wildcats going home as national champions.
This just goes to show that underdogs like Northwestern still can prevail with determination, strength, and grit. Next year, the lacrosse community surely will be anxiously awaiting to see if Northwestern can stay on top.
Sources:
https://goheels.com/news/2026/5/24/womens-lacrosse-wlax-ncaa-recap-vs-northwestern
