Northwestern beats Johns Hopkins 16-11

Northwestern moved into the NCAA women’s lacrosse championship game with a 16-11 win over Johns Hopkins on Friday, May 22, at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois. The Wildcats built the game with a dominant second quarter, taking a 10-3 lead into halftime after outscoring the Blue Jays 6-0 in the period. Johns Hopkins made a push after the break, but Northwestern answered before the rally could fully turn the game. (nusports.com) The result sent Northwestern to its fourth straight NCAA title game. ### How did Northwestern create separation? Northwestern did its biggest damage in the second quarter. After leading 4-3 at the end of the first, the Wildcats held Johns Hopkins scoreless in the second and stretched the margin to seven by halftime. (ncaa.com) Johns Hopkins said it trailed 10-3 at the break after Northwestern “came out firing” in that period. The statistical edge was broad. Northwestern outshot Johns Hopkins 40-22, according to the school’s recap, and got 21 combined points from Madison Taylor, Maddie Epke and Taylor Lapointe. Taylor finished with a game-high eight points, Epke had four goals and two assists, and Lapointe posted two goals with a career-high five assists. (nusports.com) ### Which players were central to the semifinal? Madison Taylor was the game’s top producer. Northwestern said Taylor recorded eight points and moved to 84 points in 15 NCAA tournament games, two shy of Izzy Scane’s all-time record. Maddie Epke added four goals and two assists, while Aditi Foster scored three first-half goals. (hopkinssports.com) Johns Hopkins got production from several attackers during its comeback attempt. Ava Angello scored three goals and added an assist, Taylor Hoss had two goals and three assists, and McKenzey Craig and Paige Willard scored twice each, according to the NCAA and Johns Hopkins summaries. Ashley Langdon made seven saves in goal for the Blue Jays. (nusports.com) ### How close did Johns Hopkins get after halftime? Johns Hopkins opened the third quarter with four straight goals. The Blue Jays cut the deficit from 10-3 to 10-7, with Angello, Lacey Downey, Samantha DiCarlo and Angello again scoring in a stretch of just over six minutes. (nusports.com) Northwestern answered before the game tightened further. Johns Hopkins said the Wildcats used a 4-1 burst spanning the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth to push the lead to 14-8. Hoss then scored twice in 31 seconds to trim the margin to four, and Willard later made it 15-11, but that was as close as the Blue Jays got. Epke scored again in the final minutes. (hopkinssports.com) ### What did the win mean for Northwestern’s season? Northwestern improved to 18-3 with the victory, while Johns Hopkins finished 17-5. Johns Hopkins said its season ended with a program record for wins. Northwestern said the team had now reached a fourth straight NCAA championship game and noted that the school was the first host of a national title game weekend since Princeton in 2004. (hopkinssports.com) Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern’s coach, called the setting part of what made the day stand out. “Today was just a really special day for our program,” she said in Northwestern’s recap after the game in Evanston. (hopkinssports.com) ### What came next after the semifinal? The NCAA bracket listed Northwestern’s next game as the championship on Sunday, May 24, at Martin Stadium in Evanston. Northwestern’s official schedule listed the opponent as North Carolina, with an 11 a.m. Central start. NCAA.com’s championship history page noted that North Carolina beat Northwestern 12-8 in the 2025 title game, setting up a rematch on the Wildcats’ home field. (ncaa.com) (nusports.com)