Thursday, May 15
Evanston, Ill.
11 a.m. CT
Northwestern
vs
Penn
Photo by: Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics
No. 2 Wildcats Host No. 12 Penn in NCAA Quarterfinal Thursday
5/13/2025 9:01:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
EVANSTON, Ill. – Second-ranked Northwestern lacrosse aims for its sixth-straight trip to the NCAA Semifinal when it hosts No. 12 Penn on Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium on Thursday, May 15, at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be televised live on ESPNU with Leah Secondo (play-by-play) and Sheehan Stanwick Burch (analyst) on the call.
This is the second-straight season that Northwestern (17-2) has hosted Penn (12-6) in the NCAA Quarterfinal. NU prevailed, 20-7, in last season's NCAA Tournament clash, with Madison Taylor (5 goals), Izzy Scane (4), Lindsey Frank (4) and Erin Coykendall (4) all recording hat tricks. Graduate transfer Niki Miles suited up for the Quakers, where she earned Second Team All-American recognition from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, and dished out two assists in that contest. Graduate transfer Grace Fujinaga also played in the game for Penn and scooped up two ground balls.
The Wildcats advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal round thanks to a decisive 15-7 victory over Big Ten rival No. 13 Michigan on Sunday. Taylor, a Tewaaraton Award finalist, First Team USA Lacrosse All-American, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer with 99 goals, rewrote the NCAA Tournament record book by scoring 10 goals to break former Wildcat Selena Lasota's previous NCAA Tournament single-game record of nine goals, set in 2018 against Richmond.
Taylor's outburst on Sunday matched former teammate Izzy Scane's 2023 school record of 10 goals in a game. Taylor's 99 goals this season are tied with Scane's 2023 single-season school and Big Ten record. Her next goal will give her the school record all to herself and she enters Thursday's tilt against Penn four goals shy of matching the NCAA single-season record of 103, set by High Point's Abby Hormes in 2022.
Sunday's win extended the Wildcats' winning streak to nine games, with seven of those victories coming by eight goals or more and six wins against nationally-ranked teams. Miles has 16 goals in her past five games after netting 22 in her first 14 contests with Northwestern.
The Wildcats enter the week in the national top 10 in both scoring offense (7th; 16.05 goals per game) and scoring defense (3rd; 8.16 goals allowed per game). First Team USA Lacrosse All-American Sammy White has caused 19 turnovers and scooped 17 ground balls in her last seven games and helped NU hold six of its last nine opponents under 10 goals during the 'Cats winning streak. Honorable Mention All-American goalie Delaney Sweitzer turned aside eight of 15 shots in Sunday's win to improve her goals against average to 8.56 (5th in NCAA) and save percentage to .492 (11th).
After dropping an 11-10 decision to Yale in the Ivy League semifinal, Penn (12-6) turned the page in the NCAA Tournament by drubbing Army (16-6) in the first round and outlasting Maryland (11-10 in double overtime) in the second round to punch its ticket to Thursday's quarterfinal. The Quakers scored twice in the final 3:44 to force overtime, where Catherine Berkery put them in the win column with 1:41 left in the second overtime period.
Penn is in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season and in the quarterfinal for the second-consecutive year. The Quakers defense ranks 17th in the country, allowing only 9.72 goals per game.
Northwestern is 17-4 all-time against Penn, which includes a perfect 4-0 mark in NCAA Tournament meetings. In addition to last year's quarterfinal triumph, the Wildcats met in three-straight NCAA Tournaments between 2007-09, winning the 2007 (12-2) and 2009 (13-12 in double overtime) semifinal rounds and capturing the 2008 NCAA title with a 10-6 finals win.
The Wildcats are 15-3 all-time in the NCAA quarterfinal round, winning each of their last five quarterfinal contests, which were all in Evanston. NU has not dropped an NCAA quarterfinal tilt since 2018 (19-14 at North Carolina). Northwestern is a perfect 34-0 in NCAA Tournament games at home under Big Ten Coach of the Year Kelly Amonte Hiller. She is the winningest coach in the tournament's history with 57 career wins, all coming at Northwestern.
This is the second-straight season that Northwestern (17-2) has hosted Penn (12-6) in the NCAA Quarterfinal. NU prevailed, 20-7, in last season's NCAA Tournament clash, with Madison Taylor (5 goals), Izzy Scane (4), Lindsey Frank (4) and Erin Coykendall (4) all recording hat tricks. Graduate transfer Niki Miles suited up for the Quakers, where she earned Second Team All-American recognition from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, and dished out two assists in that contest. Graduate transfer Grace Fujinaga also played in the game for Penn and scooped up two ground balls.
The Wildcats advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal round thanks to a decisive 15-7 victory over Big Ten rival No. 13 Michigan on Sunday. Taylor, a Tewaaraton Award finalist, First Team USA Lacrosse All-American, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer with 99 goals, rewrote the NCAA Tournament record book by scoring 10 goals to break former Wildcat Selena Lasota's previous NCAA Tournament single-game record of nine goals, set in 2018 against Richmond.
Taylor's outburst on Sunday matched former teammate Izzy Scane's 2023 school record of 10 goals in a game. Taylor's 99 goals this season are tied with Scane's 2023 single-season school and Big Ten record. Her next goal will give her the school record all to herself and she enters Thursday's tilt against Penn four goals shy of matching the NCAA single-season record of 103, set by High Point's Abby Hormes in 2022.
Sunday's win extended the Wildcats' winning streak to nine games, with seven of those victories coming by eight goals or more and six wins against nationally-ranked teams. Miles has 16 goals in her past five games after netting 22 in her first 14 contests with Northwestern.
The Wildcats enter the week in the national top 10 in both scoring offense (7th; 16.05 goals per game) and scoring defense (3rd; 8.16 goals allowed per game). First Team USA Lacrosse All-American Sammy White has caused 19 turnovers and scooped 17 ground balls in her last seven games and helped NU hold six of its last nine opponents under 10 goals during the 'Cats winning streak. Honorable Mention All-American goalie Delaney Sweitzer turned aside eight of 15 shots in Sunday's win to improve her goals against average to 8.56 (5th in NCAA) and save percentage to .492 (11th).
After dropping an 11-10 decision to Yale in the Ivy League semifinal, Penn (12-6) turned the page in the NCAA Tournament by drubbing Army (16-6) in the first round and outlasting Maryland (11-10 in double overtime) in the second round to punch its ticket to Thursday's quarterfinal. The Quakers scored twice in the final 3:44 to force overtime, where Catherine Berkery put them in the win column with 1:41 left in the second overtime period.
Penn is in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season and in the quarterfinal for the second-consecutive year. The Quakers defense ranks 17th in the country, allowing only 9.72 goals per game.
Northwestern is 17-4 all-time against Penn, which includes a perfect 4-0 mark in NCAA Tournament meetings. In addition to last year's quarterfinal triumph, the Wildcats met in three-straight NCAA Tournaments between 2007-09, winning the 2007 (12-2) and 2009 (13-12 in double overtime) semifinal rounds and capturing the 2008 NCAA title with a 10-6 finals win.
The Wildcats are 15-3 all-time in the NCAA quarterfinal round, winning each of their last five quarterfinal contests, which were all in Evanston. NU has not dropped an NCAA quarterfinal tilt since 2018 (19-14 at North Carolina). Northwestern is a perfect 34-0 in NCAA Tournament games at home under Big Ten Coach of the Year Kelly Amonte Hiller. She is the winningest coach in the tournament's history with 57 career wins, all coming at Northwestern.
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/ Women's LacrosseLacrosse - 'Cats Fall to North Carolina in National Championship Game
Sunday, May 25
Lacrosse - NCAA Semifinal Postgame Press Conference (5/23/25)
Saturday, May 24
Lacrosse - Comeback 'Cats Take Down Boston College, 12-11, Advance to National Title Game (5/23/25)
Saturday, May 24
Lacrosse - Maddy Taylor Breaks NCAA Goals Record in Quarterfinal Win (5/15/25)
Thursday, May 15
