A trip down memory lane: The timeline of Izzy Scane’s six-year Northwestern journey

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

Just like that, it all ended.

On Thursday night, Northwestern graduate student Izzy Scane received her second straight Tewaaraton Award, wrapping up her collegiate career with one final honor. In her six years at Northwestern, Scane experienced the highs of breaking an 11-year national championship drought and the lows of an ACL injury and heartbreaking Final Four losses. However, her path led her to become one of the most decorated players in Northwestern Athletics and NCAA women’s lacrosse history.

In this article, we take a trip down memory lane to reflect upon the career of one of the greatest athletes to don a Northwestern uniform, highlighting the pivotal moments that made her the player she is today.

February 8, 2019: Scane played her first career game, tallying two goals, three ground balls and four draw controls in a 21-11 win against Louisville. She played her first few career games as a midfielder but still made her mark on the attack, getting her first goal by winning a draw control and charging down the field just 12 seconds into the game.

March 14, 2019: Scane scored a season-high six goals in a 23-13 win against Rutgers in just her seventh career game. This was her first time scoring more than two goals in a single game, marking her offensive breakout as a volume scorer.

May 6, 2019: Scane gets named the 2019 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She ended the season with 62 goals, 18 assists, 26 ground balls, 14 caused turnovers and 59 draw controls, finishing second on her team in both goals and points. In addition, she also helped Northwestern win its first Big Ten tournament title and qualify for its first Final Four since 2014.

March 9, 2020: Scane scores a career-high eight goals in an 18-20 loss to North Carolina. Not only was that her final game of 2020, as her sophomore season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was also the final home loss of her collegiate career. Her average of 4.14 games during an abridged seven-game 2020 season was merely a sign of what would come.

March 19, 2021: Once again, Scane had a statement-making game against Rutgers. This time around, she scored a career-high 10 goals in a 21-7 win, breaking the Northwestern single-game goals record.

May 28, 2021: Although Northwestern lost 21-13 to Syrcause in the NCAA semifinal, Scane scored her 98th goal of the 2021 season, breaking the program’s single-season goals record. In addition, she helped NU win its first-ever Big Ten regular season title as well as a tournament title. She averaged 6.12 goals per game, setting an NCAA single-season record. At the end of the season, she was named Big Ten Attacker of the Year and earned her first Tewaaraton finalist honor.

December 5, 2021: Scane revealed that she tore her ACL during Northwestern’s final fall ball scrimmage, ruling her out of the entire 2022 lacrosse season. She had to watch from the sidelines as Northwestern lost in its third-straight NCAA semifinals, falling 15-14 to North Carolina after being up 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

February 16, 2023: In just her second game in nearly two years, Scane tied the Northwestern single-game record and her own career-high of 10 goals in an 18-14 win against Notre Dame.

May 18, 2023: After being held to just one goal in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Scane vowed never to let that type of performance happen again, roaring back to record seven goals, three assists, and two caused turnovers in a 16-6 NCAA quarterfinal win against Loyola.

May 26, 2023: Once again, Scane put the team on her back, helping Northwestern out of a 4-2 deficit to defeat Denver 15-7 in the NCAA semifinals and break the team’s semifinal curse to advance to the national championship game. She scored six goals, had two assists and caused three turnovers — including the infamous turnover where she chased down Denver’s Sam Thacker on the ride.

May 28, 2023: After a career marked by ups and downs, this was the game where Scane finally reached the top of the mountain, fulfilling her childhood dream of winning a national title for Northwestern. She led the team with six points (four goals, two assists) in a dominant 18-6 win against Boston College, helping NU to its first national title in 11 years.

In this game, Scane scored her 99th goal of the season to break her own Northwestern single-season goals record and lead the nation in goals for the first time in her career. She also scored her 288th career goal to become Northwestern’s all-time goals leader with just three full seasons under her belt. Just five days later, she won her first Tewaaraton Award, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since Shannon Smith in 2011. The honor marked a fairytale ending to her remarkable season, where she returned from an ACL tear to reach the top of the lacrosse world.

May 12, 2024: In the second round of the NCAA tournament against Denver, Scane scored her 359th career goal, breaking Boston College’s Charlotte North’s NCAA Division I all-time goals record. It took Scane just 81 games to pass North’s career mark, which took 87 games to achieve. In addition, she scored more goals in fewer games than Maryland’s Megan Whittle (298 goals in 90 games), the highest-ranked player on the DI all-time goals leaders list who did not get any extra years of eligibility.

Scane finished her career averaging 4.47 goals per game, good enough for second all-time in Division I women’s lacrosse behind Deleware’s Karen Ermas (who averaged 4.65 goals per game in the 1982-1984 seasons).

Northwestern defeated Denver 17-4, and Scane recorded five goals and one assist.

May 26, 2024: In the first 28 minutes of Scane’s final collegiate game, she did not score a single point. At the time, with 1:45 left until halftime, Northwestern had a comfortable 7-4 lead over Boston College and seemed well on its way to winning a second straight national title. However, when BC went on its 10-6 run following that point, Scane scored five of NU’s last six goals, including the final four goals. One of those goals came with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter, setting Northwestern up with a chance to tie the game — which ultimately failed.

Although Northwestern’s 14-13 loss to Boston College exposed many of the Wildcats’ weaknesses, it was also a testament to Scane’s grit. The fact that she went down fighting until the final seconds when her team needed her the most perfectly encapsulates her career, one marked by resilience and a relentless drive.

Four days later, Scane won her second consecutive Tewaaraton Award, becoming the sixth player in history to win the honor multiple times. She finished the season with a nation-leading 88 goals, becoming the first player since Maryland’s Jen Adams (1999-2001) to lead the nation in goals in consecutive seasons. Her total of 374 career goals also makes her the all-time career goals leader in all of women’s collegiate lac rosse, passing Saint Vincent’s Maggie Nelson who scored 370 goals on the Division III level.

Final reflections: Scane leaves Northwestern with a list of accolades long enough to fill up a book, but what will be remembered is her unforgettable style of play and how she spearheaded the Wildcats back to the top of the mountain. Whether it be her dodges, her cannon shots from 13 meters away, her caused turnovers on the ride or her trademark stick slams, she lit up every lacrosse field she stepped on. After six years of dedicating everything to her program both on and off the field, it’s fair to say that her impact will be etched in stone forever.