On the night of May 27, a national championship trophy sat contently on the floor of the Stony Brook University football locker room. Encircling the hardware were the players and coaches of the victorious Northwestern women’s lacrosse team.
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller – recently selected for membership in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame – maintained her normal composure, but this time she sported a megawatt smile on her face. The speech she gave her team highlighted another season culminating in a title.
“It was amazing to see you guys come together, and I knew we were going to win because you had the laser focus that we’ve been talking about all season.”
Amonte Hiller’s confidence was well-placed with a team that finished the season 21-2, having only lost to the University of Florida. In preseason play, the team decided to face national teams in order to face equal competition.
By season’s end, four Northwestern players had been named All-Americans, and one – junior Taylor Thornton – was a Tewaaraton Award finalist, presented annually to the nation’s best player, though the Award eventually went to Maryland's Katie Schwarzmann.
“So proud of the senior class. [pause for cheers] You know it’s obviously a really special class for me, and you guys will always be our family so thank you for everything you guys have done.”
The senior class was indeed special, including two All-Americans in Alex Frank and Shannon Smith and last year’s Tewaaraton Award winner in Smith.
Still, the senior class only accounted for six names on the 34-person roster. The youth of the team bodes well for the future, as underclassmen have become experienced players.
This experience will be useful next year in defending a title, but just as important will be fighting to regain pride – and the American Lacrosse Conference Championship – from Florida.
“I mean you guys deserve this. You worked. You were focused. You were unselfish when you needed to be and every single person played a major role whether you were on the field or not today. It was a huge team effort.”
The game opened securely in Syracuse University’s hands with the Orange leading 2-0 early. Northwestern could not gain footing on Syracuse for much of the first half and failed to chip at the lead.
Then, as the clock ticked on, Northwestern began to take control and went on a 3-0 run to close the first half with a 5-4 lead.
The second half opened in kind with an unassisted goal by Smith less than a minute in. Northwestern shut out Syracuse in the final 11:08 of play while notching two goals.
As the clock hit zero, Northwestern’s 8-6 lead was still intact, and the ‘Cats had won another national championship.
“You guys executed everything that we said and as a coach that’s the greatest joy in the world to go out there, give a game plan, have it executed, and win a national championship! [more cheers]”
In an unprecedented run of eight straight national championship appearances and seven wins, the women’s lacrosse team has secured its place among the great dynasties in college sports history. During a preseason interview with North by Northwestern, athletic director Jim Phillips compared the team to coach John Wooden’s UCLA basketball teams.
Amonte Hiller often fields questions regarding how her team stays motivated with so much success. She shrugs the question off and responds that every year is a new team.
Apparently her simple reasoning is correct as the ‘Cats refuse to take their foot off the gas, and some big name fans are taking notice.
George W. Bush invited the ‘Cats to the White House for every national championship they won while he was in office. However, Barack Obama – famous for his Chicago pride and sports fanaticism – has yet to extend that invitation.
Other Chicago sports fans anticipated a city dynasty years ago. Bill Swerski’s superfans famously predicted on “Saturday Night Live” that Da Bulls would win no less than an eight-peat of NBA Championships. While Chicago’s basketball team may have stopped at a six-peat, Chicago’s Big Ten Team shows no signs of slowing in its new quest for the eight-peat. That team is Da ‘Cats.
