After completing what could be considered the best career in Illinois high school girls lacrosse, many thought Brennan Dwyer would have instant success at Northwestern University.

But that wasn’t the case for the Wilmette native, as she played in 16 games but was behind one of the team’s best players, senior Shelby Fredericks.

“I think going in, obviously, everyone wants to be playing, but you kind of realize that everyone still has a role no matter what you’re doing,” Dwyer said. “Whether you’re on the bench or you’re a scout player or you’re playing on the fields. I think that’s something that our team does really well: is just making sure everyone knows how important their role is.

She always knew she might get thrown into the fire if things didn’t go right, so she kept herself ready, especially at the draw. Dwyer competed in practices as if she played in a game.

That experience, however, helped Dwyer in her sophomore year when she moved into a starting role, specializing into a draw control specialist. The sophomore finished the year with 181 draw controls, which was fifth in the NCAA and earned All-Big Ten honors, Intercollegiate Lacrosse Women’s Coaches Association Third-Team All-American honors and Inside Lacrosse Media First Team All-American honors.

Dwyer’s 181 draw controls broke the Northwestern single-season record as well.

“I think it was definitely helpful to have some experience from freshman year and yeah, I think it was beneficial for me to know what it’s like to be in a game and be playing at full speed,” she said. “I think freshman year was definitely a big stepping stone into this year and just having Shelby, who was there my freshman year, just playing with her in practice and stuff was also a huge asset.

Dwyer, however, wasn’t the only one at Northwestern to have success during the 2019 season.

The Wildcats made all sorts of history this spring. For the first time since the Big Ten started sponsoring women’s lacrosse, Northwestern won the conference championship, defeating top-seeded Maryland in the tournament title game. 

Northwestern followed that up by making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, all the way to the semifinals, the program’s first trip to the final four since 2014.

“Winning the Big Ten championship was amazing,” she said. “It was the first time that our team has won a Big Ten championship since we’ve been in the conference. And so I think that was super cool to just be a part of the first time we’ve ever done that. Because that’s obviously something that we work towards every year, and it’s a very big goal of ours. And that even winning the Big Ten Championship puts us in a great spot for NCA tournament. So that was a great experience. 

“The Final Four was also a crazy, it’s not like anything I’ve ever been a part of. The stands were so crowded, and it was just like such like a broadcasted event. It was definitely a very cool experience.”

Dwyer and her teammates will prepare for the upcoming season, but before then she’ll be doing some coaching at Northwestern and Loyola summer camps, as well as with local club teams.

She’s excited to get back to working with her team, however, as the wildcats have a lot of depth returning from last year’s team, including five of their top eight scorers from 2019.

“We’re super excited about next year and the upcoming years,” Dwyer said. “Just having the success that we did, I think it kind of made everyone that’s returning really hungry to be back there. Because now we all kind of know that we’ve been there and we can get there again and hopefully the next time we’re there we leave how we wanted to, by accomplishing our goal and winning the national championship. 

“I think that’s super important and special to have so many young players returning who had experience playing at that level. So I think that’s going to be a huge part of our success next year.”