2026 NCAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2026

Jenny Levy

Chloe Humphrey

Addison Pattillo

Sam Forrest

Martin Stadium at Northwestern

North Carolina Tar Heels

Semifinals Media Conference

UNC 16, Maryland 6

JENNY LEVY: Well, obviously we're really excited. Congratulations to Maryland on a great season. It was really fun to play them again. We really appreciate them, and all of the years that we've battled against them.

So it was really fun for our players, and we talked about it yesterday, how many of these guys up here have watched so many battles between the two schools and the two teams and two programs.

I'm really thrilled. I thought we played great. All these guys up here contributed to just an electric game. I'm a little surprised by the final score but not really. I thought our defense was really incredible today, putting them in positions that made them uncomfortable and our offense found different ways to score.

And I think that congrats to some of our new guys out there today. I thought Charlotte Rathjen was great, a freshman stepping up on the draw circle. And our goalies played really well, too.

So really excited to be back in the Championship Game, and I don't really care who we play but these guys might.

Q. What was your game plan, and can you talk about Charlotte Corkins and her development?

SAM FORREST: Yeah, thank you for the congratulations. Obviously our game plan today was just to go in and play us. We felt as if they had not faced a defense as high pressure and as aggressive as ours.

So we wanted to really just go out there and show them what we had, and we've been honing that in all season. And we've had some change in players, and I think Charlotte Corkins has done a really good job of bringing a positive energy back into our defensive unit. We've been kind of stressed out and figuring stuff out. We are all big thinkers, but she's done a great job on the field playing-wise and also on the emotional side of it, she's been a great leader in that sense.

Q. What has this season been like to take on more offensive responsibility?

ADDISON PATTILLO: It's nice to be out there for a second year, getting more time out there. But I've really just been relying on my teammates. They have really instilled a lot of confidence in me. And I think we've obviously played a lot of zone teams this year. So it was exciting to play man today, and we prepared really well for that all week.

And yeah, the growth that we have had all year as a unit has been really special.

Q. Especially headed into the postseason this year, there's been a lot of media attention on you specifically with ESPN, Wall Street Journal, and then you come out here and score five goals, and that can be a little overwhelming sometimes for a young college athlete. How do you balance those two sides of that with focusing on your teammates and your game?

CHLOE HUMPHREY: It definitely is a balance. There's a time and place for it. And on game day, I'm not looking on my phone or letting any of the external talk or pressure come to me.

I have to just look to my left and right and all my teammates, and that's all I need on the field. Especially like once it hits game time, I'm not thinking about any of that, and I'm just thinking about what I can show up and give to my team and what's needed from me on that given day.

Q. 15 of the 16 goals were from sophomores and freshmen. What does it say about your seniors and the upperclassmen that kind of allowed you guys to flourish and put up that many points?

CHLOE HUMPHREY: Although we show up on the stat sheet, I give so much credit to the leaders. I mean ever since we set foot on campus, these are the most welcoming girls I've ever been a part of, honestly. They are so supportive.

It doesn't matter -- they emphasize, it doesn't matter what your year is. You step into your role, and like that's going to be your role. They have just instilled so much confidence I think in all of us, and it's been really incredible to just be led by them through our young careers.

ADDISON PATTILLO: Yeah, they are super encouraging. I think especially Kaleigh Harden and Kiley Mottice, they do a really good job. They are really easy to watch in practice, and they are always doing the right thing.

So it's easy for us to follow what they are doing and get out there and do the same thing.

CHLOE HUMPHREY: And they are funny. They are always a good time. We are always smiling in practice because of them. So whether we're laughing at them or with them, they are awesome.

Q. It's been a bit that two goalies have been playing consistently. Does the way the defense is playing or is it the same mentality all the time?

SAM FORREST: Honestly, it's the same mentality. We have the same amount of trust in both their different skill sets. It's just about making sure that the transition is seamless when the new goalie steps onto the field.

So once Betty gets comfortable in the first half, we have to make sure that Lexi has that same amount of comfort coming into the second half, specifically in communication, like us instilling that confidence in her that, yes, you're coming in at the halftime. But this is what we are seeing and this is how Betty made an impact, and this is how you can make an impact, kind of just seamlessly blending in.

Q. Pretty straightforward win for you guys today. How important is that in the preparation for Championship Sunday?

JENNY LEVY: I mean, it's nice to -- we've been all sorts of situations, tight games over ten games; ones that we thought might have gone a little different and didn't.

So I think we are just looking at the standard of play that we played with, and is it to standard and where can we tweak it to be even better.

So we are still on a journey of improvement, and we get one more day to tweak it a little bit more and get ready for, I'm sure, a tough opponent on Sunday.

Q. You have such a deep midfield that you get to play around with. In terms of their mentality, they can have a hat trick one day or five ground balls, whatever, the next day. Is that a mentality that has to be coached into them or is that inherent in being a Tar Heel? How does that all come about?

JENNY LEVY: I know that our program, there's one sitting in here in the back side, right, Kara Cannizzaro, who captained our 2013 National Championship team.

We recruit high-end special athletes and we really invest in their development, on both sides of ball so, we can run two-way middies that can have impact on games. And we do have four that we run, now that Rathjen is our draw for the rest of the.

Weekend. Different ones can step at different times. Last year we saw Osborn just explode in the National Championship game and Kaleigh does such a great job on the draw circle.

I thought Kiley Mottice was really good today defensively coming in that third quarter. We had a card and we ended up getting really good turnover on that set. I thought, like, okay, I thought Maryland had a little hope at that point and Kiley makes an unbelievable play defensively.

So they are just really talented kids, and they get along and they work hard, and they always -- it's hard for them because they have half -- half-shifts on offense and half-shifts on defense.

So they have a lot of responsibility. But we have always been known for our midfielders, and we hope that that never dies.

Q. Attison said "we were excited to play against a man defense," and Sam was talking about "we were excited to be aggressive against somebody."

JENNY LEVY: Yeah.

Q. What does it say to the overall assertiveness in your guys want to impose your will and not react to the other team, so to speak?

JENNY LEVY: Yeah, I would rather be the hammer or the nail. That's kind of my mentality in life. So I think I probably coach that way, too.

But it's -- it's disciplined and it's calculated, and it's intentional. So there's times where, like, we're going, and there's times where we are a little bit more conservative but I prefer to play that way.

Q. You've been doing this longer than anybody but today for first time in your career, the Final Four hosted outside of the Eastern time zone, can you describe how the sport has grown and what that means for women's lacrosse?

JENNY LEVY: I think it's a really exciting time for our sport. You know, in '28, we are headed out to L.A. for the Olympics. There's a lot of little kids all over the country that would love an opportunity to see a Final Four.

So this area, Illinois, has been growing. In fact, we practiced at Loyola Academy on Wednesday, and John Dwyer is somebody who was like one of the grass roots high school coaches.

So it was really fun to see the growth in this area and all the kids. I'm sure there's a ton of kids outside for the next page. It's important, the move we can move the game.

But I think our Final Four, my vision is more like Omaha, where you go the same place every year. I'm not sure where that special place is. But I think we want to build around something that's a little consistent.

But Northwestern has been an unbelievable host. The facility is gorgeous. The environment on the field today was outrageous. Everything that has been done so far that we've been here has been top-notch, and I love that it's in a place right now that does help the sport grow.

Q. You mentioned Rathjen. How do you think she did as the game went along, and what should we make of Gresham coming on there at the end?

JENNY LEVY: Rath has been -- she did a great job. I thought she did a great job. I think she's learning against experience on the fly.

And so the physical act of taking the draw, it's not just a technique and a skill, which she has tons of. It's also the gamesmanship of being at that center circle and adjusting your wings and winning the ball and things like that.

You know, she's ready to go. I'm really excited about what she did today. I think that we obviously last the draw today but we also caused a lot of turnovers off the draw. I'm not disappointed at all in that area of the game but it is something that obviously Northwestern and Hopkins are really good at, too, so we probably need to continue to work there.

Sarah is doing well. She wants to play. She wants to be out there, and technically, she's the best. So we'll see what Sunday brings.

Q. Congrats on the win. When you have an offense like this going into a game like this, can you strategize your defense to focus on one or two offensive threats instead of the whole offense? Take away a point against Edmondson instead of gaping everyone.

JENNY LEVY: Say that again? Sorry. I didn't understand the question.

Q. When you have an offense like this going into a game like this --

JENNY LEVY: So offense -- Maryland's offense or my offense?

Q. I believe your offense. When you have an offense like this, going into a game like this, can you strategize your defense to focus on one or two offensive threats instead of the whole offense?

JENNY LEVY: Well, obviously I think Maryland's offense has had a good year Shanahan and Lapointe and Edmondson. They play a really good team game. They move a lot. They do what they do really well, and I thought it wasn't just focused on one kid because they play a team game on their offensive end.

But it was intentional to neutralize their biggest threats on the field. So I thought we did a pretty good job today. I'm not sure what Edmondson had, but I thought we did a good job of neutralizing. I think they got a couple man-up goals, a couple eight-meter goals. Nothing super clean. So that was good for us.

Q. What started clicking for your group after the first quarter? Were there any adjustments made, or was it just a matter of settling into the flow of the game?

JENNY LEVY: Yeah, I thought we needed to settle in. There's a lot of nerves out there, as we are listening to our starting lineup being called, and it's all sophomores. I'm thinking, Okay, here we go again.

So it usually takes like a couple plays to get into the fabric of game, get rhythm on offense, get rhythm on defense, see what their game plan is offensively, defensively, and then start to problem-solve.

And we hope as coaches that we have done a really good job of teaching them how to problem-solve on the field so they are out there coaching and talking to each other, instead of us constantly having calling audibles on either side.

So I like how we adjusted to the game. It got a little tight beginning of the second quarter, and then we started to really get into rhythm all over the field. So it was great.