Rapid Reaction: Northwestern holds on against Johns Hopkins, advances to fourth-straight NCAA Championship

No. 1-seeded Northwestern used offensive firepower and a big second quarter to outlast No. 4-seeded Johns Hopkins 16-11 in the NCAA Semifinals on Friday evening at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.

Fans packed the stands to the brim, while purple jerseys and flags flooded the student section. Evanston became the first city not in the Eastern Time Zone to host the D1 Women’s Lacrosse National Championship, and the community made sure to show up and appreciate this historic moment. Madison Taylor led all players with eight points on four goals and four assists apiece, while Maddie Epke and Aditi Foster each earned hat tricks with four and three goals, respectively.

Taylor Lapointe had a game-high five assists, while the ‘Cats won the draw control battle 20-9 and had 23 shots on goal, compared to just 17 for JHU. Johns Hopkins drew first blood early, with Paige Willard going across her body to fling a shot past Cuocco for the game’s first goal. But Taylor responded less than two minutes after, executing a give-and-go to Lapointe who gave it back to Taylor crossing inside.

NU’s star player hit a bouncer shot to tie the game. Madison Smith won the subsequent draw control and Foster rewarded her efforts, flinging a long-distance shot from the right elbow to put the ‘Cats up 2-1 with 11:31 to go in the first quarter. After a few back-and-forth possessions of quality defense, the Blue Jays leveled the score on a free position shot from McKenzey Craig, who converted with a bouncer through Cuocco’s legs to knot the score at two before the quarter’s first timeout.