Friday, April 25
College Park, Md.
4 p.m. CT
Northwestern
15-2
16
vs
15
Johns Hopkins
12-6
1
2
3
4
F
Johns Hopkins
2
4
5
4
15
Northwestern
3
4
6
3
16
No. 3 Wildcats Outlast No. 9 Blue Jays, Punch Ticket to Big Ten Championship
4/25/2025 7:38:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Niki Miles continued her hot streak with a season-high five goals, and No. 3 Northwestern held off a late rally to top No. 9 Johns Hopkins, 16-15, in Friday's Big Ten Tournament semifinal round.
The Wildcats (15-2) are now 9-0 against Big Ten foes this season and advance to Sunday's championship game, where they will face either host Maryland or Michigan at 3 p.m. CT on BTN.
Lauren Archer got things started for NU as she converted a feed from Madison Taylor in front of the net to open the scoring 3:29 into the contest. That was the only tally of the day until Ava Angello struck in transition to tie it up with 8:55 left in the opening frame. Samantha DiCarlo finished a free position shot 1:35 later to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
Miles snapped NU's 7:40 scoring drought when she cashed in on a free position shot, and Taylor closed the first-quarter scoring with 2:10 left when she fired home a centering feed from Taylor Lapointe to put the 'Cats up, 3-2.
Northwestern continued its offensive surge at the start of the second, scoring the first three goals of the frame to extend its scoring run to 5-0. Taylor, Riley Campbell and Miles struck over a 2:26 span to bump the 'Cats' lead to 6-2 with 11:39 to go in the half. However, JHU scored four of the half's final five goals to pull within one, trailing NU 7-6 at the break.
Gallery: (4-25-2025) WLAX vs. Johns Hopkins Big Ten Semis
The back-and-forth affair raged on in the second half, with the Wildcats repeatedly gaining some breathing room only for the Blue Jays to pull back to within one. Emerson Bohlig and Campbell opened the second-half scoring to make it 9-6, but Angello and Laurel Gonzalez answered. Miles added two of her five goals in the third quarter and Taylor also completed her hat trick to keep the 'Cats in front. Sam Smith's second goal of the contest put Northwestern up 13-10 with 2:01 left in the third, but Johns Hopkins cut the gap again to 13-11 in the waning seconds of the frame.
Goals by Miles and Taylor made it 15-11 with 9:27 left, but Johns Hopkins clamped down from there. The Blue Jays scored the next three goals to pull within 15-14 with 6:42 to go and keep the pressure on the Wildcats.
A clutch draw control by Bohlig allowed NU to go back on the attack and quell the JHU rally, which Lapointe capitalized on a feed by Lucy Munro with 5:54 showing on the clock. However, the Blue Jays clawed back within 16-15 on a Charlotte Smith goal with four minutes to play.
Delaney Sweitzer came up big down the stretch, making saves on two separate Blue Jay possessions, including one with 38 seconds remaining, to secure the win.
In addition to Miles' breakout performance, Taylor (4 goals, 1 assist) notched her 16th hat trick in 17 games this season and is now at 87 goals this season, 16 shy of matching Abby Hormes' NCAA record of 103 set in 2022. Campbell (2 goals), Smith (2 goals) and Munro (2 assists) also recorded multi-point games. Sweitzer made 10 saves to give Northwestern its seventh-straight victory.
Northwestern will play in its seventh Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday, April 27, and are aiming to win its third straight tournament title.
Miles' effort marks her third-straight game with four or more goals after she recorded just one hat trick in her first 14 games with Northwestern. Thirteen of her 35 goals this season have come in the past three games. NU never trailed after the first quarter (2-1) but had multi-goal leads cut to one six times in the final three quarters before securing the win.
SEE YA SUNDAY ?? #CatsWin pic.twitter.com/DQdFW2JM6l
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) April 25, 2025
The Wildcats (15-2) are now 9-0 against Big Ten foes this season and advance to Sunday's championship game, where they will face either host Maryland or Michigan at 3 p.m. CT on BTN.
Lauren Archer got things started for NU as she converted a feed from Madison Taylor in front of the net to open the scoring 3:29 into the contest. That was the only tally of the day until Ava Angello struck in transition to tie it up with 8:55 left in the opening frame. Samantha DiCarlo finished a free position shot 1:35 later to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
Miles snapped NU's 7:40 scoring drought when she cashed in on a free position shot, and Taylor closed the first-quarter scoring with 2:10 left when she fired home a centering feed from Taylor Lapointe to put the 'Cats up, 3-2.
Northwestern continued its offensive surge at the start of the second, scoring the first three goals of the frame to extend its scoring run to 5-0. Taylor, Riley Campbell and Miles struck over a 2:26 span to bump the 'Cats' lead to 6-2 with 11:39 to go in the half. However, JHU scored four of the half's final five goals to pull within one, trailing NU 7-6 at the break.
The back-and-forth affair raged on in the second half, with the Wildcats repeatedly gaining some breathing room only for the Blue Jays to pull back to within one. Emerson Bohlig and Campbell opened the second-half scoring to make it 9-6, but Angello and Laurel Gonzalez answered. Miles added two of her five goals in the third quarter and Taylor also completed her hat trick to keep the 'Cats in front. Sam Smith's second goal of the contest put Northwestern up 13-10 with 2:01 left in the third, but Johns Hopkins cut the gap again to 13-11 in the waning seconds of the frame.
Goals by Miles and Taylor made it 15-11 with 9:27 left, but Johns Hopkins clamped down from there. The Blue Jays scored the next three goals to pull within 15-14 with 6:42 to go and keep the pressure on the Wildcats.
A clutch draw control by Bohlig allowed NU to go back on the attack and quell the JHU rally, which Lapointe capitalized on a feed by Lucy Munro with 5:54 showing on the clock. However, the Blue Jays clawed back within 16-15 on a Charlotte Smith goal with four minutes to play.
Delaney Sweitzer came up big down the stretch, making saves on two separate Blue Jay possessions, including one with 38 seconds remaining, to secure the win.
In addition to Miles' breakout performance, Taylor (4 goals, 1 assist) notched her 16th hat trick in 17 games this season and is now at 87 goals this season, 16 shy of matching Abby Hormes' NCAA record of 103 set in 2022. Campbell (2 goals), Smith (2 goals) and Munro (2 assists) also recorded multi-point games. Sweitzer made 10 saves to give Northwestern its seventh-straight victory.
Northwestern will play in its seventh Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday, April 27, and are aiming to win its third straight tournament title.
Team Stats
JHU
NU
Shots
29
35
Turnovers
15
18
Caused Turnovers
10
5
Draw Controls
16
18
Free-Position Shots
5
11
Ground Balls
15
13
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
4
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
M
/ Women's LacrosseA
/ Women's Lacrosse
A
/ Women's Lacrosse
G
/ Women's LacrosseA
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Lacrosse - Maddy Taylor Breaks NCAA Goals Record in Quarterfinal Win (5/15/25)
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