A Taylor-made championship

As the final seconds ticked away in the NCAA Division 1 women’s lacrosse final game cementing Northwestern University’s first national title since 2012, the championship moment was particularly special for Wantagh’s Madison Taylor, after many near misses on the high school level.

Taylor, who reached the county finals each season at Wantagh High School, was a big part of Northwestern’s title run as a freshman. That run culminated May 28 in an 18-6 championship win over Boston College in Cary, North Carolina. 

“We made it to the county finals every year in lacrosse and lost every single time, and just could never get over that hump,” Taylor, a two-time All-American at Wantagh in 2021 and 2022, recalled, “so to come in as a freshman and win a national championship just made all of it worth it. It’s a moment I’ll cherish forever.”

The Wantagh native quickly adjusted to lacrosse on the collegiate level, tallying five goals in her debut for Northwestern on Feb. 11, jump-starting a season in which she would win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. Taylor, who was switched from her usual midfield role to attack prior to the game against Syracuse due to an injury to starting attacker Hailey Rhatigan, finished her first college season with 70 points — 53 goals and 17 assists — as well as 56 draw controls.

“We switched Maddie from midfield to attack for the first game because Hailey was out, and she scored five goals against Syracuse to set the tone,” said Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller, who has won eight national titles since taking over the program in 2002. “We just kept her on the attack end, and when Hailey came back, they were an amazing duo.”

In the championship game against B.C., much of the defensive attention was focused on Rhatigan and Northwestern’s star, Izzy Scane, the eventual winner of the Tewaaraton Award, lacrosse’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Taylor stepped up her game when it mattered most, with four goals, including the first two of the game, to help Northwestern jump out to a commanding lead. The Wildcats (21-1) finished the season with 21 straight wins after the season-opening 16-15 loss to Syracuse.

“Going into the finals, we expected B.C. to take out Izzy Scane, and we also had a hunch they’d try to lock up Hailey, so others had to step up,” Amonte Hiller said. “The night before, we had a conversation with Maddie about it, and told her, ‘If that’s how they defend us, you’ve got this.’ And she did.”

Robyn Rooney, former head coach of girls’ lacrosse at Wantagh, said she sees the potential for Taylor to one day join her teammate Scane as a Tewaaraton Award winner. The strong competition Taylor faced on Long Island, Rooney said, competing in Nassau County’s top conference with a number of Division I recruits, was ideal preparation for big-time college lacrosse.

“The speed of the game is obviously very different at the college level, but I think Long Island is pretty much as close as you’re going to get, day in and day out, to having that kind of competition,” said Rooney, who took over the Wantagh program during Taylor’s freshman season in 2019. “She’s a hard worker, and she didn’t just sit back and wait for the season to come. She attacked it.”

The heavily recruited Taylor chose Northwestern over Michigan, Florida and Syracuse due to its stellar lacrosse tradition under Amonte Hiller and the chance to receive what she described as ”the education of a lifetime.” Despite the school’s location in suburban Chicago, Taylor’s parents were able to attend nearly all of Northwestern’s games, with many of the road contests held in the Northeast.

Taylor had some extra motivation as she began her freshman season, when she was not selected to compete in the annual girls’ All-America Lacrosse Game, which features the top graduating seniors, despite her distinguished Wantagh career. She more than proved the doubters wrong, but, like any top competitor, remains focused on taking her game to a higher level.

“There's always more to improve on, like expanding my dodging more and adding more skills into my game,” Taylor said. “I’m never satisfied.”

-Tony Bellissimo contributed to this story