Ranking the top 10 Northwestern lacrosse players of all-time

Just over a week ago, we saw the college careers of some Northwestern lacrosse all-time greats end in Cary, North Carolina. In honor of that, we compiled a list of who we thought were the top ten greatest lacrosse players to don the purple and white. Given that Northwestern has produced three of the six multi-time Tewaaraton winners in women’s lacrosse, 10 Tewaaraton finalists, and 17 IWLCA First-Team All Americans, it was nearly impossible to select just ten players to be mentioned in this article — let alone rank them in specific order. This list is entirely subjective and based on our own opinions, but if you disagree with us, please feel free to provide your list in the comments below.

For this article, we only considered players who have finished their college careers at Northwestern. We also only looked at statistics from the modern era of Northwestern lacrosse (2002-present), because no data has been made available for players who came before that time.

10. Katrina Dowd, Attack, 2007-10

• 3x NCAA Champion (2007-09)
• Tewaaraton Award Finalist (2010)
• NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2009)
• IWLCA Attacker of the Year (2010)
• 2x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2009-10)
• No. 10 all-time in career points at Northwestern (267)
• No. 7 all-time in career goals at Northwestern (209)

Dowd was Northwestern’s best attacker during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, leading her team in goals in both years. She was the hero of the 2009 NCAA tournament and was named Most Outstanding Player, topping all participants with 24 points (22 goals, 2 assists). However, the unfortunate reality of her career was that her best season was the one season where Northwestern came up short. In 2010, Dowd finished second in the nation with 77 goals and 110 total points, with the latter mark ranking eighth all-time amongst Northwestern players for a single season (tied with Coykendall’s 2023 season). She was named a Tewaaraton finalist and the IWLCA Attacker of the Year for her efforts, but she ultimately came up short in leading her team to a sixth straight national title as Northwestern lost 13-11 to Maryland. In that game, Dowd uncharacteristically only had one point.

Although Dowd doesn’t rank super high in statistical categories compared to the rest of the players on this list, Northwestern wouldn’t have won the 2009 national title without her, and her run as the best attacker in the country in 2010 will forever be imprinted in the history books.

9. Hilary Bowen, Attack, 2006-09

• 4x NCAA Champion (2006-09)
• 2x NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2007-08)
• 2x IWLCA Second-Team All-American (2008-09)
• No. 7 all-time in career points at Northwestern (299)
• No. 6 all-time in career goals at Northwestern (219)
• No. 8 all-time in career assists at Northwestern (80)

Of all the Northwestern greats not named Tewaaraton finalists, Bowen arguably has the greatest merit to be on this list because of her postseason stardom. Some of her career’s best performances came when it mattered the most in the Final Four, allowing her to earn Most Outstanding Player honors in the NCAA tournament twice. In the 2008 Final Four, she led her team with nine combined goals in the national semifinals and finals; and then during the 2007 national title game, she scored a critical seven points in a 15-13 win against Virginia.

Bowen was especially impressive in the 2008 season, when she had 81 goals and 20 assists, becoming the first player in Northwestern history to lead the nation in goals (Shannon Smith and Izzy Scane did so afterward). How she didn’t earn First-Team All-American honors as the Division I leading scorer on an eventual national champion team remains a mystery, but it certainly makes her good enough to be on Inside NU’s list.

8. Erin Coykendall, Attack, 2020-24

• NCAA Champion (2023)
• Tewaaraton Award Finalist (2023)
• 2x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2023-24)
• No. 6 all-time in career assists for NCAA Division I (197)
• No. 2 all-time in career assists at Northwestern
• No. 2 all-time in career assists per game at Northwestern (2.24)
• No. 3 all-time in career points at Northwestern (368)

Although most of Coykendall’s career occurred during Scane’s reign, saying that she lived in Scane’s shadow would be a misread of the type of player she was on the field. Not only did she have her own identity as Northwestern’s greatest facilitator since Hannah Nielsen, she also made Scane and the rest of the offense better with her playmaking abilities. Many of her standout moments don’t necessarily show up in her stats but through how she played, whether it be her sidearm shots, stick fakes, high-level lacrosse IQ or behind-the-back passes.

Coykendall emerged big-time as one of the top players in the nation in her final two seasons, tallying 58 goals and 50 assists in 2023 and then 44 goals and 57 assists in 2024. Her performance in the former season earned her a Tewaaraton finalist nomination, though it could be argued that she was worthy of one in the latter season as well. She finishes her career ranked No. 2 all-time at Northwestern in assists, and the gap between second and third (69) isn’t particularly close.

7. Selena Lasota, Attack, 2015-19

• Tewaaraton Award Finalist (2019)
• IWLCA First-Team All-American (2019)
• IWCLA Second-Team All-American (2015)
• IWCLA Third-Team All-American (2018)
• No. 10 all-time in career goals for NCAA Division I (287)
• No. 2 all-time in career goals at Northwestern
• No. 5 all-time in career points at Northwestern (355)

Lasota is the only player on this list without a national title, as she competed in Northwestern’s weakest era. Her freshman season in 2015 was NU’s first season not making the Final Four in nine years, and it later failed to make it past the second round in both 2016 and 2017. After her 2017 season prematurely ended due to injury, she posted her two highest single-season goal totals in her final two years, culminating in an 86-goal, 19-assist 2019 senior season that earned her a Tewaaraton nomination. During that season, Lasota also spearheaded Northwestern’s first Final Four qualification since 2014, meaning that she left the program in a much better way than she found it.

In her time at Northwestern, Lasota fully embraced volume scoring before Scane took it to a whole other level (though part of that can be attributed to the implementation of the shot clock in 2015). She broke Smith’s program all-time goals record and was the first Northwestern player to average over four goals per game in a single season, averaging 4.25 in 2019. Lasota may not have seen the championship heights that other program greats have gone to, but she was a critical contributor toward building the foundation that brought the Wildcats back to the top again.

6. Taylor Thornton, Defense, 2010-13

• 2x NCAA Champion (2011-12)
• Tewaaraton Award Finalist (2012)
• 3x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2011-13)
• IWLCA Third-Team All-American (2010)
• IWCLA Defender of the Year (2011)
• No. 2 all-time in career ground balls at Northwestern (178)
• No. 3 all-time in career caused turnovers at Northwestern (101)
• No. 9 all-time in career draw controls at Northwestern (198)

As a Texas native, Thornton was a big reason Northwestern developed a reputation for recruiting out of non-traditional lacrosse areas. But when she got to Evanston, she built her own personal reputation by becoming a jack-of-all-trades player who was one of the best in the country. Although Thornton won national awards as a defender, she could do almost anything on the field, tallying 80 goals, 178 ground balls, 101 caused turnovers and 198 draw controls throughout her career. Her 2012 season was especially notable, as she scored 33 goals on an incredible .611 shooting percentage and nabbed 58 ground balls, 28 caused turnovers and 71 draw controls. She was named a Tewaaraton finalist that year, and although she didn’t win the overall award, she did win the Honda Award.

In Northwestern program history, Thornton was arguably the defender with the greatest range, and only Kristen Kjellman could match her versatility while competing on an elite national level.

5. Christy Finch, Defense, 2005-08

• 4x NCAA Champion (2005-08)
• Tewaaraton Award finalist (2008)
• 2x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2007-08)
• 2x IWLCA Defender of the Year (2007-08)
• No. 4 all-time in career caused turnovers for NCAA Division I (183)
• Northwestern career ground balls leader (183)
• Northwestern career caused turnover leader
• Northwestern caused turnover per game leader (2.13)
• Northwestern single-season caused turnovers record (70 — 2008)
• Northwestern single-game caused turnovers record (8 — 2008)

Although most of Northwestern’s greats stood out with their numbers on offense, the program’s greatest defender of all time also needs to be recognized. While players like Bowen, Nielsen and Kjellman dominated in the front of the field, Finch was busy being the arguably best defender in the nation in her final two seasons, shattering Northwestern program records in nearly every defensive category. First, in 2007, she finished second in the NCAA for caused turnovers (59) while racking up 53 ground balls. A year later, she led the nation with 70 turnovers, a mark that stands as a Northwestern single-season record, and the No. 5 single-season caused turnover output in NCAA Division I history. She also ranked eighth in the NCAA with 58 ground balls in a season that earned her a Tewaaraton nomination — the first for a Northwestern defender.

Finch completed her career as one of the greatest NCAA defenders of all time from a statistical standpoint, finishing fourth all-time in career caused turnovers.

4. Shannon Smith, Attack, 2009-12

• 3x NCAA Champion (2009, 2011, 2012)
• Tewaaraton Award Winner (2011)
• 2x NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2011-12)
• 3x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2010-12)
• No. 4 all-time in career points at Northwestern (362)
• No. 3 all-time in career goals at Northwestern (254)
• No. 3 all-time in career assists at Northwestern (108)
• Northwestern all-time leader in career games started (91)

Smith’s placement was by far the easiest to make on this list — in front of all the players without a Tewaaraton and behind the two-time Tewaaraton winners. As one of Northwestern’s most prolific offensive players, she amassed 254 goals and 108 assists, ranking third all-time in program history in both categories. In addition, she held the crown as NU's all-time leading goalscorer from 2012 to 2019.

As a four-season starter and a three-time first-team All-American, Smith was consistently one of her team’s best players — hence how she accumulated the numbers that she did. However, in her freshman, sophomore, and senior seasons, she played alongside another Tewaaraton finalist or winner on the team (Nielsen in 2009, Dowd in 2010, Thornton in 2012). But 2011 was the season where she got all of the spotlight, tallying a nation-leading 86 goals and 128 points in addition to a team-leading 42 points to win the Tewaaraton Award. Her scoring prowess was especially displayed during the NCAA tournament, when she averaged 5.5 points per game to help Northwestern win a national title. In that title game, an 8-7 win over Maryland, she scored half her team’s goals and was named the most outstanding player. Those 86 goals Smith tallied would remain a Northwestern single-season record for a decade until Scane broke it in 2021.

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Now, we are entering rarefied territory. All three players mentioned below have a case for number one and can also be considered some of the greatest players in women’s lacrosse history. However, because we didn’t want to have ties in this article, we were splitting hairs to decide which player should rank the highest. So, without further ado, let’s introduce the three greatest players in Northwestern history.

3. Hannah Nielsen, Midfield, 2006-09

• 4x NCAA Champion (2006-09)
• 2x Tewaaraton Award winner (2008-09)
• 3x Tewaaraton Award finalist (2007-09)
• 3x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2007-09)
• No. 4 all-time in career assists for NCAA Division I (224)
• Northwestern career assists leader
• Northwestern career assists per game leader
• Northwestern single-season points record (142 – 2009)
• Northwestern single-season assists record (83 — 2009)
• Northwestern single-game assists record (10 — 2009)
• No. 2 all-time in career points at Northwestern (398)
• No. 8 all-time in career draw controls at Northwestern (199)

The only reason why Nielsen is ranked below the other two is because she sported quiet numbers in her freshman season (14 goals and nine assists, though she did have 34 ground balls and 30 draw controls) and never won an NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award despite winning four national titles. However, those details are trivial to the legacy of the greatest facilitator in Northwestern history.

First, Nielsen is in rarefied territory as one of three women’s lacrosse players to win multiple Tewaaraton Awards and national championships (with the other two being Kjellman and Maryland’s Taylor Cummings). She also spearheaded a graduating class that won more national championships (four) than games lost (three). But the most memorable part of Nielsen’s career was the sheer ridiculousness of her assist stats.

There is not a single Northwestern player who could build her success off assists in the way Nielsen could. She finished her career as the NCAA Division I assists leader, and although her record eventually was broken, she remains the Northwestern record holder for career assists and assists per game (2.55). In addition, she held the program’s all-time points record for 15 years. Nielsen’s senior season was especially impressive, as she tallied 59 goals, 83 assists, and 72 draw controls to win a second consecutive Tewaaraton. Her 83 assists stands as a Northwestern single-season record (and it used to be an NCAA record), and she also tallied a 10-assist game that is a program single-game record (again, a former NCAA record). Although Nielsen’s NCAA assist records have been broken, her ability to consistently put up ridiculous numbers on the highest level of DI lacrosse will never be erased.

2. Izzy Scane, Attack, 2019-24

• NCAA Champion (2023)
• 2x Tewaaraton Award winner (2023-24)
• 3x Tewaaraton Award finalist (2021, 2023-24)
• NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2023)
• 3x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2021, 2023-24)
• IWLCA Second-Team All-American (2019)
• NCAA Division I career goals leader (374)
• NCAA Division I single-season goals per game record (6.12 — 2021)
• No. 2 all-time in career points for NCAA Division I (483)
• No. 2 all-time in goals per game for NCAA Division I (4.47)
• Northwestern career goals leader
• Northwestern career points leader
• Northwestern career goals per game leader
• Northwestern career points per game leader (5.75)
• Northwestern single-season goals record (99 — 2023)
• Northwestern single-game goals record (10 — 2021 and 2023)
• No. 6 all-time in career assists at Northwestern (107)

Some sports teams have a consensus GOAT. But deciding who that is for Northwestern lacrosse was one of the most difficult things we had to do while writing this piece.

First, we’d like to iterate that Scane holds a lot of “XX of all-time” titles when it comes to Northwestern lacrosse. Evident through her sheer amount of NU and NCAA scoring records, she is the most statistically dominant player in program history and maybe in women’s lacrosse. For those reasons, we can also say she’s the greatest pure offensive force in Northwestern history. And while all statistical categories are important to lacrosse, they aren’t all created equal — it’s fair to say that goalscoring brings the most eyeballs to the sport, especially in the era of social media clips and highlight reels. Hence, it’s also fair to say that Scane was the most memorable and entertaining player in Northwestern history, though that label is much more subjective than the rest.

Context also matters a lot when looking at Scane’s legacy. Although she didn’t compete for six seasons, she was with Northwestern for six years, meaning she was a definitive part of the team’s identity for over half a decade. In addition, her comeback from an ACL tear that cost her the 2022 season and led to her Tewaaraton and national title-winning 2023 season (which Inside NU’s Brendan Preisman labeled as the greatest single-season Northwestern performance ever last year) is a core part of her career story. Also important to note is that Scane dominated in arguably the most competitive era of lacrosse, where the game is a lot more advanced with way more parity than there was for those who came before her.

For both her dominance and other subjective reasons, we think that No. 27 deserves to be hanging from the rafters. However, as difficult as it was to make this choice, we couldn’t put her at the top of this list simply because Kjellman outperformed Scane in their respective years where they were named Tewaaraton finalists but didn’t win (more on that later). But like with Nielsen, this line of reasoning shouldn’t detract from how much Scane meant for the program.

1. Kristen Kjellman, Midfield, 2004-07

• 3x NCAA Champion (2005-07)
• 2x Tewaaraton Award winner (2006-07)
• 3x Tewaaraton Award finalist (2005-07)
• 1x NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2005)
• 3x IWLCA First-Team All-American (2005-07)
• No. 6 all-time in career points at Northwestern (349)
• No. 4 all-time in career goals at Northwestern (250)
• No. 4 all-time in career ground balls at Northwestern (165)
• No. 4 all-time in career draw controls at Northwestern (268)
• No. 7 all-time in career assists at Northwestern (99)

The overall deciding factor for the Scane vs. Kjellman debate was Scane’s 2021 season performance compared to Kjellman’s 2005 performance. In 2021, Scane put up strong numbers, but it was hard to argue against eventual Tewaaraton winner Charlotte North after she led Boston College to its first-ever NCAA title and was the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Meanwhile, Kjellman outperformed 2005 Tewaaraton Winner Katie Chrest of Duke in the NCAA tournament and nearly matched her stats throughout the season. In addition, having three national titles on her resume doesn’t hurt Kjellman.

Semantics aside, let’s talk about Kjellman’s greatness. She was the ultimate pioneer of Northwestern lacrosse, leading it to its first national championship and becoming its first Tewaaraton winner. She was also the first player, male or female, to win a Tewaaraton in back-to-back seasons. Her success as a player was consistent throughout all her years at Northwestern, being just one of two players (alongside Scane) to be named an IWLCA All-American in all four seasons with the program.

Although Kjellman doesn’t have the same statistical ridiculousness as Scane or Nielsen, she was arguably the best all-around player out of the three. She ranks at least top seven all-time amongst Northwestern players in every major statistical category aside from caused turnovers, being a capable goalscorer, assist maker and draw specialist. Her 2006 season was especially remarkable, as she recorded 72 goals, 91 draw controls, 55 ground balls and 26 assists. She could do almost anything on the field even if it didn’t show up as a point on the stat sheet, which made her nearly impossible to stop.

For decades to come, many greats will come through this Northwestern lacrosse program, and Kjellman’s stats will likely fall lower and lower down the program’s all-time list. But all the success first started with the programs she led to the top. No matter how many years are removed from her time as a Wildcat, everything the program has accomplished since will always be traced back to her original impact. And for that, she is considered by us to be the greatest Northwestern lacrosse player of all time.