Northwestern's Madison Taylor aims to lead lacrosse team back to the top
Northwestern's powerhouse women's lacrosse team has been to three straight national championship games and six straight final fours.
The Wildcats are led by another record-setting superstar, hoping to lead them back to the top.
Senior Madison Taylor is picking up where she left off last year, when she broke the NCAA Division I record for goals in a single season, with 109.
"I never thought I'd be in this position," she said. "I'm super grateful to be here and be playing with this team. It's just been awesome."
Taylor, who actually was not a super highly touted recruit out of high school in New York, has secured her spot among the best in the sport.
On April 4, she joined another recent Wildcats superstar, Izzy Scane, as the only two players in program history to score 300 career goals.
"It was cool. I mean, any day we get to play at home game outdoors like that is just an awesome day. Definitely a day we're all going to remember, and so much went into it," she said.
And to have it happen, on their second annual Lacrosse Day in Chicago, in front of a record crowd of over 5,800 fans, made it even more special.
"It was such a cool environment. We've never done anything like that before, where we had a doubleheader with Notre Dame men's team playing, and then we played after them. So it was super cool. So many fans. So much people helped put into that amazing day, so we're just super grateful for them, and it was just a really cool experience," Taylor said.
After a couple of rare early-season setbacks by the high standards of Northwestern lacrosse, the Wildcats got back on track in a big way with a win over then No. 1 North Carolina on their home turf in thrilling fashion.
"Yeah, it was awesome. We've had a lot of ups and downs this year. We've learned to stay calm and consistent. You always learn the most when you go through those hard moments and those losses. We've learned so much from them. It's been able to push us through this season, and we're kind of right where we want to be right now," she said.
Where they want to be at the end of the season is back competing for a national championship.
"At the same time, we're also trying to take it day by day. I think that's when the results will come instead of thinking so far ahead. I think especially for this group right now we're super focused on each practice, just trying to get better and become the best versions of ourself and the team," Taylor said.
If there's a better version of Madison Taylor, that would certainly be scary for any of the Wildcats opponents the rest of the way.
