Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/25/25 – From Press Release and Staff Report
Redshirt freshman Chloe Humphrey exploded for four goals and an assist and her sister Ashley Humphrey dished out four assists as North Carolina topped Northwestern, 12-8 to win the 2025 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship and finish undefeated (22-0) on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
The Carolina defense limited the Wildcats to eight goals in a strong defensive game by both teams. Northwestern’s Madison Taylor, the nation’s scoring leader with 109 goals, finished without a score after a stellar performance by UNC All-America Sam Forrest and the rest of the Tar Heel defensive unit. Carolina held Taylor scoreless for the first time in 45 games, although she did record four assists.
Eliza Osburn scored two goals in a nine-second span during a key stretch of the fourth quarter, and Olivia Vergano added two goals and an assist for UNC.
The Tar Heels captured their fourth national title (2013, 2016, 2021, 2025), all coming in the last 12 NCAA Tournaments (there was no tournament held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). UNC is now 4-2 all-time in NCAA finals.
Philly grads played key roles for the Tar Heels and the Wildcats. Kiley Mottice (Archbishop Carroll) had a goal and a groundball and Marissa White (Agnes Irwin) scored once. For Northwestern goalie Delaney Sweitizer (Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) was a standout with 17 saves, defender Mary Carroll (Kennett) had an assist, two caused turnovers and a groundball and Aditi Foster (Penn Charter) had a goal and an assist.
“This is amazing, I’m just so happy,” said White, a redshirt sophomore who missed all of last season due to a torn ACL. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve gone through a lot of adversity the past 2 years, coming off a knee injury. But we have such an amazing team with great coaches.
“I guess this is a bit of a silver lining for me with all the rehab and work after surgery.”
White (49 goals this year) said the Tar Heels never stopped improving despite winning every game. “I think we peaked at the right time,” said White in a phone interview with Phillylacrosse.com. “It’s due to the chemistry in the club. We went undefeated, but we kept getting better. Everyone worked so hard. This is so special after losing 8 or 9 starters last year to injuries. We wanted to prove a point this year.”
Mottice – a junior who finished the year with 31 goals – said her squad’s camaraderie was special.
“I am honestly so incredibly proud of this team,” she said. “We like to talk about how special this team is not just as players, but as people. We are so close on and off the field and it showed with winning.
“This is everything I ever dreamed it could be. It’s incredible and really I am kind of speechless.
“We knew Northwestern was a great team and we knew we had to be relentless. Jenny (coach Jenny Levy) likes to call us Voluptuous Raptors because we go at it so hard on the field. That’s how we played today. I think that confidence comes from the work we put in at practice every day, working hard against each other.”
Carolina’s four championships are the third most in the history of the sport behind Maryland’s 14 and Northwestern’s eight. Head coach Jenny Levy’s four titles are the fourth most in NCAA history. The victory also was the 433rd of Levy’s head coaching career, tying Princeton’s Chris Sailer for second in NCAA Division I annals.
UNC finished the season with a perfect, 22-0 record, matching the school record for wins in a season set by the 2022 squad that also went 22-0 and won the national title. Northwestern (19-3) saw its 11-game winning streak come to an end with a second loss this season to Carolina, which beat the Wildcats, 15-12, in Evanston, Ill., on March 27.
The Tar Heels are 37-12 in the last 17 NCAA Tournaments with four championships, six title game appearances and 11 semifinal trips in that span (since 2009). UNC is 97-12 in its last 109 games (89.0 percent) and has scored double-figure goals in 111 of its last 119 outings.
Northwestern scored first and forced four turnovers in the opening 15 minutes before Carolina scored five straight goals to take a 5-1 lead. To close the first quarter, Chloe Humphrey, Kate Levy and Caroline Godine ripped off three goals in a row as UNC led, 3-1. The Tar Heel defense, the nation’s best, held the Wildcats scoreless in the final 8:44 of the first quarter and won four of the last five draw controls.
Carolina eventually held Northwestern scoreless for nearly 17 minutes as it took a 5-1 lead midway through the second period. Wildcat goalie Delaney Sweitzer helped keep Northwestern in the game with nine first-half saves, but UNC led, 5-2, at the half.
Chloe Humphrey scored her third goal of the game less than five minutes into the second half to give the Tar Heels a 6-2 lead. The Tar Heels led, 7-4 and forced 13 Wildcat turnovers through three quarters.
After a scoreless stretch of 12:35, Eliza Osburn exploded for two goals in nine seconds to make the score 9-4 Carolina with 8:16 to play. UNC scored three goals in 46 seconds to lead, 10-4 with 7:45 left and put itself in a position to win.
Despite being face-guarded for much of the game, Ashley Humphrey was able to create offense with her playmaking. She broke the record for most assists in a single NCAA Tournament with 20 in four games this month.
