EVANSTON, Ill. – The University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team battled third-seeded Northwestern throughout Thursday's NCAA Championship quarterfinal along Lake Michigan, but for the second straight year at this juncture of the postseason the Wildcats ultimately had too many weapons—primarily the NCAA's single-season goals leader, Madison Taylor—and prevailed, 17-12.
 
Penn fell behind 4-0 and was playing catch-up the rest of the day. It was a five-point game at the half, but the Quakers scored five of the first six goals in the second half to get within 11-10. However, the Wildcats regained their footing, holding the Red and Blue scoreless for nearly 13 minutes and scoring four times in that span. Senior Anna Brandt scored two late to make it 15-12 with 3:13 still to play, but the Wildcats were able to shut the door with two late tallies.
 
Northwestern (19-2) now moves on to next weekend's semifinal round in Foxboro, Mass., while the Quakers see their season end at 12-7.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Senior Anna Brandt ended her incredible Penn career in style, scoring five goals and adding an assist for a six-point day. The All-America finishes as the program's all-time leader in goals scored (206) and third in career points (215).
 
*In scoring five times on Thursday—the fourth time she has hit for that many in a game this season—Brandt became the program's single-season leader in goals with 68. Coincidentally, the previous record holder was wearing a Northwestern uniform on Thursday—Niki Miles, playing for the Wildcats as a grad transfer, scored 63 in 2023.
 
*Senior Keeley Block also had a hat trick on Thursday, despite being taken off the field at one point due to an apparent injury. It was her second straight hat trick—she also had one last Sunday at Maryland—and eighth this season.
 
*Senior Gracie Smith had two goals and an assist on the day, scoring multiple goals for the fourth time in five games and the eighth time this season.
 
*Patricia Columbia-Walsh had a goal and three assists on Thursday, recording a career high in assists and finishing one point shy of her season high in points (4).
 
*Senior Erika Chung dished out two more assists, giving her 46 for the season—fourth on the program's single-season list—and a program-record 139 for her career. Chung had multiple assists in 13 games this season.

*Sophomore Catherine Berkery scored a goal and added an assist for a two-point day.

*At the other end, junior Natasha Yajadda led a spirited defensive effort with four caused turnovers, a career high. Grace Lillis and Brandt had two each.

*On the draw, Maggie Bankowski and Natasha Gorriaran had three each while Smith and Brandt had two each. Brandt finished the game with five ground balls, leading all players.
 
*In addition to facing Miles, the Penn women also faced off against former teammate Grace Fujinaga who is a grad transfer and starts on defense for Northwestern.
 
*Taylor scored six goals to lead Northwestern—giving her an NCAA-record 105 for the season—and added four assists for a 10-point day. Four other Wildcats players scored twice: Miles, Lucy Munro, Taylor Lapointe, and Aditi Foster.
 
How It Happened
The Wildcats wasted no time establishing themselves on Thursday afternoon, as Munro scored twice just 2:05 into the contest. Lapointe and Taylor made it 4-0 before the Quakers finally got on the board in a player-up situation when Block scored off a feed from Columbia-Walsh. Northwestern answered less than a minute later to go up 5-1, but Block (from Chung) and Smith (from Columbia-Walsh) scored just 1:20 apart and NU's lead was 5-3 after one.
 
The Cats got a player-up situation early in the second and converted, Lapointe netting her second of the day. That was the start of a three-goal run by the hosts that made the score 8-3. Brandt ended Penn's scoreless skid on a free-position goal with 5:57 left in the half, but Northwestern netted the next two across a 90-second span to go in front 10-4. Brandt closed out the first-half scoring with her second in a four-minute span, and the teams went to the locker rooms with NU up, 10-5.
 
Brandt opened the second-half scoring only 42 seconds into the third quarter, getting her third straight hat trick (14th this season) with a rocket from just outside the fan. Berkery made it 10-7 a few minutes later, charging the crease from a low angle on the left side and dunking it over the NU keeper. Taylor ended a Northwestern scoring skid of 7:43 with a free-position goal—in the process setting the NCAA's single-season goals record, with 104—but Columbia-Walsh scored her first of the day just two minutes later and then fed Smith for another tally. Those two goals sent the teams to the media timeout with NU's lead at just two, 11-9, and after the stoppage Smith charged from behind the goal and found Block in front to make it 11-10.
 
It was Miles who got the margin back to two, getting around Brandt up top and scoring from the left side. It was just Northwestern's second goal in a span of 14:48, and then Taylor quickly followed up with her sixth of the day. Brandt had a chance to get the margin back to two but hit the post with about a minute left in the period, and Northwestern's lead was 13-10 heading into the final 15.
 
It looked like Berkery had scored her second of the day early in the fourth, but following a review the refs determined that the sophomore's stick hit a Wildcats defender in the head on the follow through. The goal came off the board, Berkery was given a yellow card, and Northwestern took advantage of the player-up opportunity as Harvard grad transfer Riley Campbell scored her first of the day.
 
Miles followed up with her second of the day just 1:36 later for the 'Cats, and then Lapointe looked like she had another. However, the tables turned as Lapointe was called for a dangerous follow through, giving her a yellow card and taking the goal off the board. Brandt quickly followed with another rifle from the left top, and the teams went to the final media timeout with the score 15-11 in Northwestern's favor.
 
Northwestern won the draw out of the stoppage and had a long possession, but the Quaker defense finally caused a turnover and broke out in transition. At the other end, Chung found Brandt who charged into her fifth goal of the day. That made the score 15-12 with 3:13 left. However, NU won the ensuing draw and put this one away as Foster scored twice in the game's final 1:47 to set the final score.
 
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