Cuocco and Child lift the Wildcats to a Big Ten Championship

Cuocco’s on fire 🔥

The @NULax goaltender made 10 saves in the first half to hold Maryland to just one goal 🙅‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/P5jj5DINjE

— Big Ten Lacrosse (@B1GLacrosse) April 26, 2026

The graduate student described this as the culmination of her work, while also crediting her fellow teammates for their support.

“It like end of a chapter for me,” Cuocco said. “I’m just super proud of my defense. They gave me looks that were what I wanted to see and could save all day. So I’m just super proud of their performance. They made my job really easy.”

While Cuocco spearheaded the defensive effort, Child was the headliner on offense. She netted a hat trick for the first time in her career and put together her first multi-goal game since March 25. Child’s back-to-back goals early in the third quarter helped Northwestern widen its lead to four, giving the ‘Cats their first true cushion of the game.

Back 2⃣ Back 🤩

Child adds another! pic.twitter.com/HpEsktqwIe

— Northwestern Lacrosse (@NULax) April 26, 2026

What made Child’s outing even more impressive was the versatility it required. Despite being normally a defensive midfielder, Hiller adjusted Child’s role to reflect that of an attacker, compensating for eight minutes worth of cards handed out to Northwestern’s offensive unit in the contest..

Hiller touted Child’s willpower when making the adjustment, a challenge that the graduate student embraced.

“I think it means the world that my coaches and all my teammates have confidence in me, so I can derive their confidence and just put it into my game plan,” Child said.

Together, Cuocco and Child — combined with excellent team defense that forced 16 turnovers and was 19-for-21 on clears — helped the Wildcats build a 7-3 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. But then, the Terps regained their offensive firepower, scoring four-straight goals to tie the game at 7-7 and force extra time.

Despite the game being turned on its head, the ‘Cats stayed confident and poised.

“We knew we could do this,” Child said when recalling the team’s sentiment after Maryland’s comeback. “We were never on the ropes, that wasn’t the mindset in our huddles.”

Sometimes, a single play is emblematic of a player’s success in a game. That was true of Child’s game-winning shot and of what transpired two minutes before in overtime.

Taylor Lapointe thought she had netted the game-winning goal, but it was negated due to a crease violation. Despite that, the ‘Cats’ defense stayed ready on the counter attack. Maryland got two clean looks to try and win the title — first from Maisy Clevenger, then from Kristen Shanahan after she picked up a ground ball. Both were denied by Cuocco, whose clutch pair of saves in rapid succession kept the game tied and set the stage for Child’s heroic moment.

“She’s big time, she’s really a big time goalie,” Hiller said. “When you make those types of saves, it gives your defense so much confidence that you know what they’re doing is good as well.”

That’s what these Wildcats do. Career-defining performances from two veteran pillars of this team were the fuel it needed to rise to the occasion. And because of them, Northwestern is the Big Ten Champion for a fourth consecutive year.

“We leaned on each other and poured on each other,” Cuocco said. “We knew that the team that stayed the most composed was going to win the game, and we leaned into that and knew that we were in the driver’s seat and needed to keep that mentality.”

With the NCAA tournament on the horizon, the Wildcats are balancing their relishment in this victory with preparation for what’s to come.. But if this past weekend’s performance is any indication of the future, the ‘Cats will be ready for whatever challenge awaits them next.

“Today we celebrate a win we’re really proud of, and then going into next week, we reset,” Child said. “We think about the future. We think about the goals we still have to accomplish and the time we still have to cherish together.”