Northwestern's Madison Taylor Loses Out on Tewaaraton Award to UNC Freshman

Madison Taylor's 2025 season was one for the record books. The Northwestern junior powered the Wildcats to their third consecutive National Championship game, shattering the program, Big Ten and NCAA single-season scoring records in the process.

Northwestern's season ended with a 12-8 loss to North Carolina in the title game, and the Wildcats' offensive struggles in that match appear to have weighed heavily on the Tewaaraton Award committee's minds. Taylor was scoreless in a game for just the third time in her career and the first time in over two years, although the star attacker did have four assists.

North Carolina freshman Chloe Humphrey was presented with the Tewaaraton Award on Thursday night, marking the first time that a freshman has won the award since its inception in 2001. Taylor was a finalist for the second season in a row, joining UNC's Ashley Humphrey and Boston College's Rachel Clark and Shea Dolce.

Humphrey had a remarkable season in her own right, setting the single-season North Carolina scoring record and NCAA freshman scoring record as the Tar Heels went a perfect 22-0. The youngest of three Humphrey sisters — all of whom played for UNC this season — finished with 90 goals and 28 assists.

While statistics aren't everything, Taylor's 109 goals and 49 assists far surpassed Humphrey's numbers. The Northwestern star had more goals, more assists, more points, more draw controls, a higher shooting percentage and a higher shots-on-goal percentage than Humphrey. Despite being relied on heavily to supply Northwestern's offense, Taylor achieved all of that on just 13 more shots.

The two were also nearly identical in terms of free position shooting percentage, caused turnovers and ground balls.

Evidently, the main difference in Humphrey winning the Tewaaraton was the head-to-head matchups between Northwestern and North Carolina. Despite Taylor's superior numbers over the course of the entire season, Humphrey outscored her 4-0 in the season finale and 4-3 in their March matchup. The Tar Heels came out victorious in both outings.

Tewaaraton Award or not, both Taylor and Humphrey rewrote the record books for the NCAA and their respective schools. The two women's lacrosse stars will likely face off again in 2026, setting up a game between two of the most dominant players in the sport.

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