Weekly Cover: Meet Madison Taylor, the Latest Lake Show Sensation

Boston College goalie Shea Dolce has had a front-row — or perhaps, more accurately, doorstep — seat to watching Northwestern attacker Madison Taylor over the last two years. The Eagles and Wildcats have met in the last two NCAA championship games, splitting the difference, but the two joined forces with the U.S. Women’s U20 National Team last summer in Hong Kong.

It was a welcome change for Dolce.

“Her shot is probably top-three of shots I’ve seen,” Dolce said. “A lot of people can shoot a lefty sweep. But when she has a stick in her hand, she’s almost automatic.”

Opposing defenders know what’s coming but can’t see it coming. They struggle to stop it. Taylor is predictable, unstoppable and predictably unstoppable. In the monster-size shadow of two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Izzy Scane, she flourished in her first two seasons with Northwestern. She enters the Wildcats’ game at Marquette on Friday leading the nation in goals (42) and points (42), shooting 65 percent and riding a 29-game multi-point scoring streak.

“She has great accuracy, strong deception and she shoots hard,” said Kelly Amonte Hiller, Taylor’s coach both at Northwestern and with the U.S. U20 team. “It’s the trifecta of being great.”

One of two returning Tewaaraton finalists from 2025 (the other being Loyola’s Chase Boyle), Taylor has taken the baton from Scane and run with it as the latest Lake Show sensation. Only a junior, she has already won NCAA and world championships and in January was named the USA Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year.