UNC Finishes One Win Shy of National Title Repeat, Falls 14-11 to Northwestern

In a rematch of last season’s national championship game, North Carolina fell one win short of back-to-back titles Sunday afternoon, dropping a 14-11 decision to top-seeded Northwestern in the title game at Northwestern’s Martin Stadium.

Sophomore attacker Addison Pattillo paced the Tar Heels with three goals, while Chloe Humphrey and Eliza Osburn each added two. 

Three hundred and sixty four days after UNC topped the Wildcats 12-8 at Gillette Stadium to capture the 2025 national championship, Northwestern flipped the script on its home field, closing Sunday’s contest on a 5-0 run to secure its second victory over Carolina this season.

“Congratulations to Northwestern,” Jenny Levy said. “Certainly a good environment and a great game for our people to watch, so congrats to them on winning the national championship.

“That being said, I love my team. Love the hard work they have put in all year. They have been awesome, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. So it’s obviously disappointing but it was a tight game and I felt like it could have gone either way and it fell to the other side than we wanted.”

The Wildcats also handed UNC its first loss of the year in March, outlasting the Tar Heels 17-16 in overtime on Dorrance Field to snap Carolina’s 31-game winning streak, dating back to last season’s perfect 22-0 season. 

After Northwestern opened Sunday’s game on a 3-0 run, the Tar Heels answered with four straight goals to take the lead before the teams entered halftime deadlocked at six.

Holding a 9-7 advantage in the third quarter, Reese King appeared to extend UNC’s lead to three before a Northwestern challenge revealed King stepped into the crease after scoring, wiping the goal off the board. On the ensuing possession, the Wildcats trimmed the deficit to one.

Leading 11-9 entering the fourth quarter, Carolina surrendered three unanswered goals as Northwestern moved back in front 12-11. Moments later, Caroline Godine appeared to tie the game with 6:37 remaining, but another successful Wildcats challenge resulted in officials ruling Godine made contact with her defender during the shot, overturning the goal.

“I thought those were momentum-changing decisions and I thought our team had to kind of battle through that and we didn’t do as well as we could battling through that,” Levy said. “Just unfortunate. I haven’t really looked at the film, so I can’t really comment.”

Humphrey’s two scores — her 108th and 109th of the season — tied Northwestern’s Madison Taylor for the NCAA single-season goals record. The reigning Tewaaraton Award winner also finished the year with 159 points, setting a new UNC single-season record.

“I’m someone who really tries not to focus on the individual performances that I put on, I’m concerned about hoisting trophies with my team,” Humphrey said. “So today, it’s obviously disappointing to not be able to provide for my team when they needed it most.

“I think I learned a lot about myself as a player and a person, just being surrounded by such incredible teammates every day that are willing to push me, and I do really think that this will light a fire under us, and we will be back. I think we are going to take a lot away from this.”

Levy’s squad closes the season 19-2 and will enter 2027 positioned for another title push, with three of its top four point scorers expected to return to Chapel Hill.