North Carolina and Northwestern were once again the final two teams standing on the final day of the women's lacrosse season on Sunday.
After the Tar Heels won last year's national championship game meeting, the Wildcats earned some revenge in the rematch.
A back-and-forth affair ultimately ended in Northwestern's favor, as the Wildcats spoiled the UNC women's lacrosse team's quest of claiming it's first ever back-to-back national championship titles.
Northwestern got hot early on, scoring the first three goals of the game. Chloe Humphrey would get the Tar Heels on the board at the 8:07 mark of the first quarter. By the end of the frame, the Tar Heels trailed by just one, as Eliza Osburn found the back of the net twice in a span of 40 seconds to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The teams would head into the half tied up at 6, but the game simply felt like Northwestern was in control. Similar to how the Tar Heels control the pace in their Final Four contest two days ago, the Wildcats simply dominated the time of possession, making the most of their opportunities throughout.
North Carolina's biggest push came in the third quarter, gaining their first lead of the afternoon less than three minutes into the second half. As was the case through the first half, both teams would trade goals throughout the remainder of the period, but Humphrey's goal at the 2:24 mark gave UNC an 11-9 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Unfortunately, UNC had no more goals left in the tank, as Northwestern outscored them 5-0 in the fourth quarter to secure the national championship title.
With the loss, UNC is now 4-3 all-time in seven title game appearances. Northwestern now has the head-to-head advantage over North Carolina in NCAA Tournament action, as their victory on Sunday afternoon snapped a four-game tournament losing streak to the Tar Heels.
Humphrey tied the NCAA single-season goal record of 109, which was set last season by Northwestern's Madison Taylor (who fittingly played in this national title game). While Humphrey tied the record, Taylor gets the national title, something she wasn't able to get last season when the Humphrey-led Tar Heels stood atop the women's college lacrosse world.
Although they came up short, it was another tremendous season for Jenny Levy and the Tar Heels. They ended the season with a 20-2 record, but unfortunately, the only team who beat them this season was the one they faced on Sunday afternoon.
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