2009 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
School Conference Berth type RPI Record
Boston U America East Automatic 11 15-3
Colgate Patriot League Automatic 24 14-4
Duke ACC At-large 5 14-5
Fairfield MAAC Automatic 16 17-2
Georgetown Big East Automatic 8 13-5
Maryland ACC Automatic 2 19-0
Massachusetts Atlantic 10 Automatic 30 11-7
North Carolina ACC At-large 3 13-4
Northwestern ALC Automatic 1 19-0
Notre Dame Big East At-large 6 15-4
Penn Ivy League Automatic 4 13-2
Princeton Ivy League At-large 9 13-3
Syracuse Big East At-large 7 13-4
Towson CAA Automatic 18 13-5
Vanderbilt ALC At-large 12 10-6
Virginia ACC At-large 10 11-7
Tournament field -- Teams
The 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 28th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The tournament was played from May 10 to May 24, 2009, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland from May 22-24. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate. Northwestern defeated North Carolina, 21-7, to win their fifth overall, as well as fifth straight, national championship. This would subsequently become the fifth of Northwestern's seven national titles in eight years (2005-2009, 2011-12) as well as the fifth of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005-12). Furthermore, Northwestern's win secured an undefeated season (23-0) for the team. The leading scorer for the tournament was Katrina Dowd from Northwestern (24 goals). Dowd was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.