2026 NCAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2026

Tim McCormack

Taylor Hoss

Ava Angello

Martin Stadium at Northwestern

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays

Semifinals Media Conference

Northwestern 16, Johns Hopkins 11

TIM McCORMACK: I think I'll first start off by saying just what a great atmosphere this was. I just think really, really well -- made the young women feel really special. Excellent crowd. To bring an event like this to the Midwest is really cool and for growth of the game. I wanted to make sure I touched on that and how important that was and how cool and special, to inspire the next generation of young lacrosse players out here.

I can't begin to describe how incredibly proud I am of this team. Stamped a legacy that will be cemented forever for our program, and set new standards. You know, and did so with so much grace. So much grace. The leadership of our senior class and how connected they were and how together they were, in all the decisions they made throughout this year was incredibly inspiring, will certainly trickle down to our team, and just so proud of everything.

I think there was some swings today. I think we're in there early. Let it slip away a little bit in the second quarter, but we found ourselves again and pushed hard and competed like we've done all year. Stuck with it, and you know, got ourselves back kind of to where we needed to be.

But it just got a little bit too far away at a certain time.

But again, proud of the effort. We threw everything into that, and these girls are just -- have done an amazing job and have been incredibly inspiring to myself and to the rest of this locker room.

Q. How much pride to you take in the reputation it seems like Hopkins has built over the last couple years, even when the score is so lopsided, you know a come back is coming. How much pride do you take in that?

AVA ANGELLO: So much. This is such a special group. The belief and support that we have for each other, it's something you really can't find anywhere else. Something I'm super fortunate to be a part of. This is such an amazing group, and -- might get emotional -- but it's hard to leave that with such a special group.

A lot of pride. I'm super fortunate I was able to be a part of it. (Tearing up).

Q. As you reflect on your four years in Baltimore what did it mean to wear that Hopkins uniform and what legacy do you think you left behind?

AVA ANGELLO: It means everything, to wear the Hopkins uniform with the tradition and just the support that you have from everyone is an opportunity not many people can get. So if you have that opportunity, you've got to take it. And I'm so grateful think did, all those four, five years ago when I committed here. One of the best decisions that I have ever made.

So super, super fortunate for that opportunity. The legacy that I think I left but also the senior class, it's not an "I"; it's a "we" thing here. Our whole senior class want to show the girls below us, just, like, anything's possible. You put the effort and energy in and come in and have fun and compete and become the best versions of yourself, you can make it to this stage every year. We have all the support and love for the game that it takes.

I hope that's a legacy we all left, and the program is in really good hands.

Q. When you hear Ava say that about the program being in your guys' hands, and that you can do so many good things with this program, how do you build off that?

TAYLOR HOSS: I literally would play tomorrow. Like if we could get practice started for tomorrow, I'm ready to prep for, literally, next year.

I mean, these seniors were so inspiring, every single one of them. Like, looking up to them, I was like, I want to win for you guys. The legacy that they are leaving, too, it's so inspiring, and I just want to carry that on.

We can only go up from here. We have never been in this spot before, and I think it's so exciting, too. Maybe it didn't end the way we wanted it to, but like you look back at that and you're like, we made here. It's possible. That's what you dream come true of as a little girl. Everyone in that locker room now is like, we can do this. This is lacrosse. Let's do it.

Q. There were a lot of younger players in the crowd. What is one message you hope they take away from this game and this atmosphere?

TAYLOR HOSS: Yeah, I mean, as a little girl, that's what I dreamed of. I live on Long Island, so I went to Stony Brook when they had the Final Four. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, I hope I get to experience that one day.

The fact that I got to experience it and play in it today was so amazing. So anything is possible. Like if you dream it, you can do. And it all takes hard work. Like it's the Monday morning that you're waking up early and you're running. And just the effort that you put in. Like anything that you put your mind in, you can do.

AVA ANGELLO: Yeah, being in that position, once you always looked up to all those girls, and now playing on it, you look at them and show that -- like all the hard work, it's all worth it. It can get you to the biggest stage possible in college lacrosse.

So keep working hard and keep putting in the effort. But at the end of the day, have fun with it. It's all about having fun and enjoying the sport and the girls around you. So continue having fun, is something that I really want the girls -- younger generation, to take from this game today is it might not have been the result we wanted but you sure know that our whole team, we had a blast out there with each other, and enjoyed every second of it.

Q. You talked about the atmosphere here today, and not too long ago, you were an assistant coach here at Northwestern. What does it mean to you, both as a coach and personally to come back, and, one, head coach Johns Hopkins to its first-ever Final Four but have that Final Four game here at Northwestern in a packed-out stadium?

TIM McCORMACK: It's a special place for sure. It holds a dear place in my heart. You know, starting my family here. A lot of amazing milestones hit here as an adult.

You know, and to have another one, it's pretty special. It's pretty cool. It's pretty -- it's a full-circle type of moment. Had a chance to kind of soak that in a little bit over the last couple of days that we spent here, you know, getting on the field and getting back in the stadium.

You know, so certainly cherish that. Cherish the memories that we made together as a group. Because that's what it's all about. It's about sharing it with the special people around you, and I had some of the best around me. I never felt stronger landing in O'Hare Airport than I did this time around, that's for sure, with that team and with my staff, who I'm incredibly proud of and worked so hard, as well.

Yeah, it was special for sure.

Q. The group of seniors all came into the Johns Hopkins program at the same time as you. What did you as a coach learn from working alongside them for the past four seasons, and how did they help you improve as a coach, being alongside them for so long?

TIM McCORMACK: I learned form them, it's all about consistency and messaging. Understanding your voice. Understanding what each individual brings to the table. You know, and I watched them, incredibly devise plans to communicate to the team and go out and deliver the messages properly, and understand who should deliver each message. That's an important thing when you're leading the team.

You know, because if the wrong person delivers the message, that's not going to land right. So I watched them take ownership and pride in understanding what strengths they each brought to the table, and then delivering that. You know what, I think it as way learning experience for them, too, over the years. They have grown up a ton. This group has matured a ton.

It's been really amazing to watch that journey for them, and for me, that's what it's all about. I can firmly say that we have set them up for the next 40-plus years of life, and you know, this is lacrosse. It's going to end. For them, it happens to be today. For them, they are in a great spot to hit the ground running once they turn the page here.

Q. What would you say went wrong in the second quarter, and what went right when you started pulling out of it a little bit?

TIM McCORMACK: A couple things. I think the draw controls is probably a big piece of it. You know, we didn't have a ton of possession. We were really scrapping for possessions at a point in that second quarter.

And then when we did, our spacing wasn't excellent. We were a little bit predictable. We didn't, you know, work our offensive actions like we have done.

I will give credit to Northwestern. They switched into a zone at that moment in time, you know, which was probably a great change. And that probably takes a possession or so we had to get yourself acclimated with that. So, you know, and then when you are dealing with limited possessions, two is going to hurt you, and it certainly did there.

You know, so that was a part of it. And then once we kind of got our feed under ourselves, I mean, it was the opposite of all that stuff. We got some possessions. We scrapped for many balls. We made big-time stops and cleared the ball successfully. That's probably another thing; we didn't clear it at a great rate in that second quarter, either. We cleared the ball successfully.

We were unpredictable. We varied up our actions. We got attacks from different points on the field, whether that was from behind a couple times or from the wing instead of one area in the top corner. Just our spacing got a little bit better. We got a little bit more unpredictable with our actions, and that helped. That helped when we started to get back a little bit.

Q. You've been a part of the sport of lacrosse all over the world: Arizona, Midwest, now out East, Hong Kong. And Coach Kelly was here just a minute ago praising what you've done for this game and this team. Can you talk about how someone with a unique journey all across this sport, how with lacrosse, with the family and connections what that means to you?

TIM McCORMACK: I'll start with this: She gave me this opportunity when I was a young kid, pretty much right out of college, looking for a job. I always wanted to coach. Knew I wanted to coach. And when I got the call from -- it was Scott who gave me my first phone call, you know, I was very up front. I said I have supported the women's game my whole life. I went to my friends' games all through college and high school. I don't really know the rules.

And both of them looked me in the eyes on my interview and said, 'We can teach you all that. Help our goalies out."

I owe so much to those guys and for giving me that chance and changing the trajectory of my life. But it is a family. That's what it's all about. It's about growing the game. It's about inspiring the next generation, boys, girls, everything.

We said it before, how many young girls are here watching what just went on here those past two games? That's amazing. To do that in the Midwest and bring it out here, that's what it's all about.

And as you mentioned, having an opportunity to do that out in the World Games, U-20 World Games and seeing young people out there be excited about it. It's a special game. I love the growth. I love watching it grow. We are heading out to Japan in a week with our team. So we are going to continue to do that and hopefully continue to just inspire the next group of people that want to do what we do.

Q. If we can look briefly to how the quarterfinal ended, the Hopkins brand really reached all sorts of corners with how that game ended. It was an ESPN and talk shows and everything like that. How is that maybe a lasting memory you'll take from this season, just how that embodied all the fight and all the grit that Hopkins has?

TIM McCORMACK: It's hard to put into words that moment. You know, we had so much fight throughout the whole season. You know, we had our backs against the wall so many different times. So to have, essentially, the season culminate in a play that ends on a buzzer beater, which by the way, doesn't not happen often in women's lacrosse. It's not basketball where you can throw up a shot from half-court. Even in men's lacrosse, you can shoot a ball from the other side of the field. Maybe you get a lucky bounce.

You've got to get to a very specific area to score in our game. To have that buzzer beater drop like it did, to advance us to this point, you know, I do think it was a good embodiment of who we are and who this 2026 team, specifically, is. Never quit. Never -- never stopped playing. Support each other. Believe in each other for 60, 60 plus minutes. We needed that extra time, as well, throughout this year.

Just, again, incredibly proud. I think it's a good embodiment of who we are and what this 2026 team really represented.

Q. Reagan played one of her potential last games for you guys. Can you speak of her impact during your time with her?

TIM McCORMACK: That's going to be hard to sum up in a short sentence here.

I think there's a potential that Reagan and her efforts could change the game and change the landscape of what this looks like and what defenders do on the field. Maybe what's acceptable to do on defense. How aggressive she was. How big of an impact she had on every single game, whether that's because teams didn't want to bring it near her side of the field or because she went out and grabbed the ball back almost at-will at times. You know, so I think down the line, you'll see -- you'll see young kids trying to play like that. Trying to get out there and maybe steal some balls. Maybe you see some coaches being accepting of that style a little bit.

But she left her mark on this sport for sure. She certainly left it in our locker room, and we'll honor that for a long time.

Q. A Final Four run in your fourth year at the helm. What do you learn about yourself as a coach this season?

TIM McCORMACK: I'm always trying to learn and grow. That's what it's about. Just be adaptable. Grow. Listen. You know, I mean, I'm incredibly grateful to have the best staff in the country. You know, Nicole, Dorian, Joe, Taylor, our director of operations, they work so hard. They put so much into this, and you know, I'm so grateful for them.

Always listen. You know, have your ears open and be adaptable. Be ready to make changes if needed. You know, we made some big ones this year. We certainly looked at a lot of film after last year and figured, you know, how can we manipulate things a little bit differently. So we changed some of our spacing.

So you know, I think those are some of the main things. But ultimately, how important belief is, probably, is the No. 1 thing. We had a group that just simply believed, and did it over and over again.

We will continue to instill that in them.