TOWSON, Md. -- The Northwestern class of 2009 had pretty much done it all during their careers in Evanston. They had won three national championships, posting an 84-3 overall record in the process, and established themselves as one of the top classes in the history in the sport. But the one thing they hadn't done was go undefeated in a season.

Check one final thing off their "to-do" list. Northwestern capped a perfect 2009 season by routing third-ranked North Carolina 21-7 to capture its fifth-straight national championship, finishing the year 23-0.

"Before the season, we were joking that the only thing we had not done was go undefeated," said senior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary). "I am so proud of my teammates for doing this. We should be so proud of each other."

"This one feels so special to me," said head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "Every championship has been special in different ways. We had to overcome a lot of adversity to get here, so that makes it very satisfying."

Northwestern continued to etch its place as one of the top program's in the history of the sport, becoming just the second team to win five consecutive national titles. They are now just two shy of Maryland's seven-straight from 1995-2001, and the victory over the Tar Heels (16-5) was head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller's 20th consecutive tournament victory.

After lighting up the tournament for the past month, junior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) continued to earn the title of "Miss May," netting four goals and adding a pair of assists en route to being named the Championship MVP. She finished with 22 goals and a pair of assists, shattering the previous goal record of 17.

But the player who captured that title the previous two seasons showed why she may have the biggest heart in the nation. A month and a half after tearing her left ACL, senior Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) scored a game-best five goals, connecting on all five shots she took on net and was named to the all-tournament team. She finished the year with 55 goals, capping her illustrious career with 219 goals and 299 points -- both third-best in program history.

"This was an amazing performance, and I never thought I'd be a part of it when I got injured," said Bowen. "Honestly, if it wasn't for the encouragement of my friends, my family, my coaches and my teammates, it never would have happened. They kept pushing me to come back and I'm so happy that I did."

Senior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) all but locked up her second-consecutive Tewaaraton Trophy, dishing out six assists to finish with 83 on the year and 224 in her career. She closed out her four years in Evanston as the Wildcats' all-time leader in both points (398) and assists, and walks into the sunset with the Division I single- game (10), single-season (83) and career (224) assist records.

As it did in the semifinal against Penn, Northwestern pounced out to a quick start. Bowen cut through a trio of Tar Heel defenders and fired a shot past Logan Ripley to give the 'Cats a 1-0 lead less than a minute in. Senior Mary Kate Casey (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) then converted a free position goal at 27:08 to push the lead to 2-0.

North Carolina answered with a free position goal by Megan Bosica at 23:47, only to have junior Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) respond by rocketing a shot past Ripley three minutes later to push NU's advantage back to two at 3-1.

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2009-05-25