On Friday afternoon, women’s lacrosse’s holiday season made its way to Evanston.
Northwestern took down Johns Hopkins 16-11, just hours after UNC toppled Maryland 16-6, setting the stakes for a national championship rematch Sunday afternoon. But, with the Final Four taking place for the first time in its forty-four-year history outside of the Eastern Time Zone, Martin Stadium’s record-breaking 6,242 attendance was engulfed by something much greater than anything that transpired between the cages.
Nestled upon Northwestern’s Lakefill, Medicine Field became the heart of a celebration, surrounded by a sea of purple energy, with thousands of ‘Cats fans showing out for The Lake Show. In many ways, the atmosphere was unlike anything the sport has seen, with a joy for the sport of lacrosse and for this Northwestern team working to build a temporary home for The Fastest Game On Two Feet.
“This atmosphere is unbelievable,” Dylan Amonte, who was part of NU’s championship team in 2023, said. “Northwestern does it like nobody else. This is the best place to play lacrosse in the country.”
Amonte, the niece of Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, was part of a raucous front row cheering section at center field. The crowd was characterized by constant activity: thunderous drumrolls on the metallic bleachers, European soccer-esque chants and non-stop singing of songs during every break in the action. Composed of NU women’s lacrosse program alumni, current Wildcat student athletes and friends and family members of the team, who flew into Chicago for the weekend from around the country to support the ‘Cats, this primary rooting section of the Final Four stands was partying all game long, celebrating Northwestern’s victory and the beauty of women’s lacrosse.
As reflected by the 50-yard line cheering contingent, women’s lacrosse is a family affair. As the sport has grown, it has stayed grounded in human connection, with many of the game’s most passionate fans drawn in by a true love for the game and the people who play it.
“It’s electric here, and we’re just a Wildcat family,” said Nadia Nemeth, a sophomore field hockey national champion at the core of NU’s student section. “We have the whole family here, and we are ready to go…we are so excited to be here.”
With energy like Nemeth’s engulfing the Lakefront, the Final Four at Martin Stadium quickly became a model for how the game has grown in the 21st century. Enraptured by the sport’s lively community, first-year Northwestern students new to Lake Show playoff lacrosse could not help but want to become part of NU lacrosse’s proliferating community.
“It’s fun to see all the diehards here,” Nate Kelly, a Northwestern first-year student, said. “[It] makes you want to get more engaged, building off their energy.”
Kelly’s remarks have stood true for so many women’s lacrosse fans in recent years. The sport’s fanbase is bigger than ever, helping fuel the stick-and-ball’s rapid growth across the country.
Per Player Data, since 2005, the number of collegiate women’s lacrosse programs, across all divisions, has almost doubled, increasing from 260 to over 500. The sport has expanded beyond its northeast roots, with powerhouse programs being developed at Colorado, Florida and, of course, Northwestern, which has won nine national titles in the last twenty years.
The sport’s growth has also occurred at the high school level, with girls’ participation rates increasing by 40% between 2012 and 2022, according to USA Lacrosse. Hundreds of young lacrosse players were in attendance to watch their first Final Four at Martin Stadium, with programs like Marist High School, located in Mount Greenwood, an hour’s drive south of Evanston, making the trek as a team to witness the games.
“I think that being able to watch [the Final Four] is just a great opportunity for all high school girls,” said Abby McClorey, a senior captain of the Marist team. “We’re able to learn from them and work together as a team to do our best to play up to that potential.”
Gabby Fahey, a midfielder for Marist, added that Northwestern, especially, has taken ownership in helping facilitate lacrosse’s growth in Chicagoland, visiting Marist to help develop its program.
At the end of the day, lacrosse is a sport built on family values, no matter what happens on the field. Moved by the Lakefront’s atmosphere, all four of Friday’s coaches, winners and losers, made it a point to celebrate the grassroots importance of Martin Stadium’s Final Four in the greater landscape of women’s lacrosse.
“It’s a family,” John Hopkins head coach Tim McCormack said in his postgame press conference. “It’s what it’s all about. It’s about growing the game. It’s about inspiring the next generation: boys, girls, everything.”
McCormack was especially complimentary of Coach Amonte Hiller, who, alongside her husband, assistant coach Scott Hiller, provided the Blue Jays’ program leader with his first head coaching job out of college. Speaking on The Hillers, McCormack echoed the idea that women’s lacrosse is all about family, highlighting how incredible it was that his team got an opportunity to play in front of the sport’s young players.
“This is bigger than just us,” Coach Amonte Hiller said, emphasizing the same sentiment. “I think this is a chance for little girls to see the game at the highest level. The best players in the game were all on the field today. And that’s a really cool and rare opportunity and I’m so glad that people get to experience this for the first time beyond the East Coast.”
With Coach Amonte Hiller continuing to instill a paramount passion for the game throughout her team, her premier players, cast into the spotlight on women’s lacrosse’s biggest stage, continue to embody the spirit of the sport better than anyone else.
Simply put: the ‘Cats love to play lacrosse. As time ran out on the scoreboard, NU’s sideline was captivated with joy, intensely excited to play sixty more minutes of lacrosse, together, as a team.
“We’re just playing for more time together, that’s all there is at the end of the day,” Northwestern’s star attacker Madison Taylor said, who led the ‘Cats’ offense with eight points against the Blue Jays. “We’ve got sixty more minutes left together, no matter what. So, couldn’t be more happy.”
With a championship still left to transpire, the celebrations at Martin Stadium are far from over. The title game rematch between Northwestern and North Carolina is set to take place on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN.
