Seeing Sammy: NCAA Title Game MVP 'A Game-Changer for Our Sport'

Sammy White takes her oatmeal smothered in cinnamon sugar.

“I drench it,” she said matter-of-factly.

It’s her road game breakfast and exactly what she ate hours before Northwestern’s 18-6 win over Boston College in the NCAA championship game May 28 in Cary, North Carolina. Kiera Shanley braided her hair as part of her pregame ritual. She then got taped up by the Wildcats training staff.

White slept poorly — maybe four hours max — because of her anxiety and excitement for the game. But nothing else was out of the ordinary.

Except for her performance. That was extraordinary.

The sophomore was a menace in the middle of the field. She was everywhere. White was named the championship game’s most outstanding player with seven draw controls, six ground balls, three caused turnovers and one goal.

As Boston College struggled to gain any traction against a ferocious Northwestern ride coupled with a stout defense, it seemed as if White had the ball in her crosse more than all the Eagles combined in the second half.

“She just knew that she had to do what it takes,” said Kendall Halpern, a defender alongside White. “Without her on the defensive end, this moment wouldn’t have been real.”

The seeds for the moment were planted 98 days earlier — ironically against Boston College. It was Northwestern’s third game of the spring, and the defense had been scuffling. It allowed 16 goals to Syracuse in the season opener, which proved to be the Wildcats’ only loss, and then 14 goals in a win over Notre Dame.

Something began to change against BC, though. Northwestern trailed by four at halftime. Halpern played limited minutes in the first half in her return from a stress fracture in her right foot. White was playing in the midfield. Northwestern head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller decided to try something different by installing White full-time on defense in the second half. Halpern, who proved her health in the first half, wasn’t limited in the final 30 minutes.

Northwestern held Boston College to four second-half goals in a 15-14 win. The defense went on to allow double-digit goals just four more times in the entire season.

“The second half of that game was kind of the spark that started this defensive run,” Amonte Hiller said.

White oozes personality. Halpern said she’s the bubbliest person she’s ever met and a great friend.

“My class coming in, when we first met each other, they would call me Smiley,” White said. ‘They’re always like, ‘Stop smiling!’ And I just smile bigger. I’m always happy and smiling and positive.”

White understood the assignment when Northwestern mic’d her up for a preseason practice, singing Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor” as she strolled out onto the field. She welcomed first-year attacker Lucy Munro into her warmup line by tapping each of her shoulders, kissing her own hand and lightly tapping Munro’s forehead.

And dad jokes? White’s got plenty of them.

“What do you do to help a lemon that’s hurt?” she asked Hailey Rhatigan. “You give him lemon-aid!”

She’s also big on positive vibes.

“Your eyes look really pretty today,” White told Hansen. “I don’t know why. They’re just poppin’ today.”

White’s off-field impact extends outside the program, too. Minutes after White was named the championship game’s most outstanding player, Tari Kandemiri — aka Official Lax Girl — took to Twitter to praise White’s performance.

“Sammy White, a Black girl, is the Player of the Game of a Division 1 National Championship lacrosse game,” Kandemiri tweeted. “When I went to go buy my first ever stick, none of the girls on the ads looked like me. Someone out there watched this game, saw Sammy, and now knows they can do it too.”

White was floored. It had always been a goal of hers to live up to the legacy of Taylor Thornton — a Black superstar at Northwestern from 2010-13 who was part of the Wildcats’ last NCAA championship in 2012. Thornton was a force, contributing 80 goals, 198 draw controls, 178 ground balls and 101 caused turnovers. She started all 90 games of her career, earning three IWLCA first-team All-American honors and the 2012 Honda Sports Award, recognizing the national player of the year.

Thornton was a national champion in 2011 and 2012, and her teams went 81-9 during her four years in Evanston.

“Taylor Thornton was someone who, when I went to a game at Towson in 2010, I was like, ‘Dad, there’s a Black girl on the team!’ White said. “Without even knowing what she was doing for me, she did so much, just letting me know that I was able to play this game.

“When I saw that tweet, I almost started bawling my eyes out. It meant so much to not only know that little girls are looking up to me, but also knowing that people are realizing the impact I’m having on the game. I play for the younger girls, especially the ones that look like me, every single time I step on the field.”

White epitomizes the concept of marching to the beat of your own drum. She scoffed at the idea of attending a private high school in Maryland — a route many her age take to play in the nationally touted IAAM conference — and instead opted to attend Dulaney High School, where she starred in three sports.

Basketball helped hone her defensive instincts. It was a sport in which her athleticism and footwork could take over. Her pure speed was an asset on the way to eclipsing 1,000 career points, as was her work ethic. After a win against Loch Raven High School during her freshman campaign, White wasn’t happy that she missed free throws near the end of the game. She asked her father, Rick — a director at WMAR-2 News and four-time Emmy winner — to take her to the nearby YMCA to practice.

They drove to the YMCA, where White shot free throws until the gym closed.

When it was time to make a college decision, White again paved her own way. Instead of following many of her Baltimore-area peers to play for Cathy Reese at Maryland, she chose the Midwest.

“So many girls from my area go to Maryland,” White told the Daily Northwestern. “I was like, ‘No, forget that.’ I don’t want to go somewhere where everyone else goes. I want to build my own legacy here.”

Amonte Hiller spoke at length minutes after the NCAA title game about how the 11-year gap between national championships put a mental strain on her. This season, she focused less on the drought and more on the journey of getting back to the top.

Northwestern was the most fun team to watch in college lacrosse. Izzy Scane, the Tewaaraton Award winner, was at times a one-woman wrecking crew one year removed from an ACL injury that cost her the 2022 season. Erin Coykendall, a Tewaaraton Award finalist, was a heady feeder and lethal finisher. Add in the offensive contributions of Rhatigan, a grad transfer from Mercer, and freshman Madison Taylor, and the Northwestern attack was a sight to behold.

But so was the defense. And while an offense dropping 16.95 goals per game makes headlines, a defense at the root of a nation-best 8.05 scoring margin can get overlooked.

In its own way, the Wildcats defense was just as electric as the offense. They stretched out far beyond the eight-meter arc to get on the hands of attackers. There was hardly ever a settled possession on that end of the field. Passing lanes were jumped, offenses were helter-skelter and the ball frequently found its way to the ground — and then into a Northwestern stick.

“One of the most fun things about our defense is that it doesn’t require us to think much,” Halpern said. “Kelly always wants us to just play. We’re a little less disciplined. We’re willing to take chances 20 meters outside of the goal.”

Alexis Venechanos is at the core of the defensive mentality. A part of the Northwestern coaching staff from 2004-06, Venechanos was rehired so Amonte Hiller and the Wildcats could embrace the same strategies as when the program first began its stretch of seven titles in eight years from 2005-12.

Venechanos, a former NCAA champion goalie for Maryland, deployed an aggressive backer-style scheme that caused havoc.

“The glory is from the beholder,” said Venechanos, formerly the head coach at Ohio State and UMass. “One of my daughters wants to play defense after watching our defense play. It’s a mentality.”

White provided some  of the highlight plays of championship weekend while operating out of the backfield. Like how she picked up a ball off the soggy grass at WakeMed Soccer Park in North Carolina to sprint the length of the field and score — her first goal since March 30 — in the national championship game.

White accepts that, otherwise, scoring is not a featured part of her game. Anything for the team. But it’s not as if playing defense is a drag. In her mind, offenses are supposed to score. Stopping them from doing so can be just as invigorating.

“My favorite part is stopping someone from scoring,” White said. “It stems from basketball. It’s me versus the girl I’m guarding. If I’m able to win that battle, it’s so fun. I get so much enjoyment when the attacker is frustrated.”

Opponents hate to go against her, teammates love to be around her. That’s Sammy White.

“Playing with her next to my side is truly an honor,” Halpern said. “She’s a game-changer for our sport.”

This article appears in the July/August edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join our momentum.