North Carolina let a two-goal fourth-quarter lead slip away as Northwestern closed on a 5-0 run to defeat the Tar Heels 14-11 within the 2026 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship Sunday at Martin Stadium.
Northwestern (19-3) entered the ultimate interval down 11-9 however dominated the final quarter-hour to safe its ninth NCAA title and second victory over UNC this season. The Wildcats prolonged their successful streak to 14 video games and avenged final 12 months’s championship loss to the Tar Heels.
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UNC (20-2) noticed its 10-game successful streak finish. Over the final two seasons, the Tar Heels are 41-2, with each defeats this spring coming in opposition to Northwestern.
Gabriella McCollester powered the Wildcats with 4 objectives, three of them after halftime, together with the go-ahead rating throughout Northwestern’s game-changing fourth-quarter push. Aditi Foster and Taylor Lapointe every completed with three objectives, whereas Madison Taylor had one purpose and 6 assists, directing an offense that step by step wore down UNC.
Chloe Humphrey led North Carolina with two objectives and two assists and tied the NCAA single-season report along with her second rating, matching the 109 objectives Taylor scored for Northwestern final 12 months. Addison Pattillo recorded her seventeenth profession hat trick — and sixth straight sport with at the very least three objectives — and Eliza Osburn added two objectives. Eva Ingrilli additionally scored twice.
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Northwestern struck first and quick. Lapointe scored 58 seconds into the sport off a go from Taylor, then added an unassisted purpose barely a minute later. A failed UNC clear arrange Foster’s end on one other Taylor feed for a 3-0 Wildcats lead that pressured a Tar Heels timeout.
Humphrey lastly put UNC on the board with a woman-up purpose on the 8:07 mark of the primary quarter. After Abby LoCascio answered to revive a three-goal margin at 4-1, Osburn responded with two unassisted objectives in a 40-second span, trimming the deficit to 4-3 after one.
Foster opened the second-quarter scoring to make it 5-3 Northwestern, however objectives from Darcy Felter and Pattillo pulled UNC even at 5-5. The groups then traded woman-up objectives — LoCascio for the Wildcats and Pattillo on a free-position try for the Tar Heels — to ship the sport to halftime tied at 6.
Carolina took its first lead lower than three minutes into the second half when Humphrey arrange Ingrilli for a 7-6 edge. Taylor fed McCollester off the following draw to tie it, however Pattillo’s third purpose and a free-position strike from Kate Levy pushed UNC forward 9-7.
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After a Tar Heel purpose was worn out on video evaluate, Northwestern capitalized with a tally by Maddie Epke to chop the margin to 9-8. Ingrilli answered to make it 10-8, McCollester scored to chop it to at least one, and Humphrey’s record-tying purpose off a Levy help with 2:24 left within the third restored an 11-9 UNC lead heading to the fourth.
Lapointe began the comeback along with her third purpose 1:07 into the ultimate quarter. McCollester tied it at 11 moments later, and Foster’s end with 7:36 to play gave Northwestern a 12-11 benefit, its first lead since early within the second half.
McCollester’s fourth purpose prolonged the hole to 13-11 with 6:03 remaining, and Taylor’s unassisted rating with 1:18 left capped the 5-0 burst that sealed the championship.
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This article initially appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Women’s Lax: Northwestern stuns Tar Heels late to win NCAA title