Northwestern capped a perfect season May 22 with a 13-10 victory over Virginia in the Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship game at Navy. The Wildcats denied the Cavaliers a second consecutive NCAA title.

Northwestern finishes the season 21-0, a school record for consecutive victories. The Wildcats' last loss in fact was to the Cavaliers in the 2004 NCAA tournament quarterfinals.

Early on, the contest was a scoring battle between Virginia junior Cary Chasney, who tied a championship-game record with six goals, and Northwestern's Kristen Kjellman, who scored the Wildcats' first five. The last of Kjellman's goals knotted the game, but Chasney tallied twice more to put the Cavaliers ahead.

Northwestern's Sarah Albrecht and Kristen Boege scored to give the Wildcats the lead for good, 8-7. Virginia appeared to score at the halftime buzzer, but officials ruled otherwise.

Northwestern scored three goals in the first 12 minutes after the break, including a pair from Albrecht, to go up, 11-7. Soon after the third goal, a wide-open Chasney scored for Virginia, but Northwestern scored two more to take a 13-8 lead.

The Cavaliers didn't retreat, scoring two goals in 17 seconds to pull within three, but time ran out on the Virginia rally.

Northwestern's Kjellman earned most-outstanding-player honors. Albrecht scored three times and goalie Ashley Gersuk made eight saves en route to the win.

Chasney's goal total for Virginia tied that of Georgetown's Erin Elbe, who scored six times in the 2001 championship game.

Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hillier said her team was thrilled with the win.

"I have no words for this team. They are such an amazing group of girls and for me it's so special to be a part of this team," she said. "The reason we are here today is because these kids are such good people, and they are so coachable. They have worked so hard to get here and earn this honor."

Kjellman said the whole team believed it would win the national title.

"I think we all knew we could do it. We were so confident this year going into every game, and especially this tournament," she said. "We had faith in all of our teammates. I think that carried us this year and it will in the future."

The national championship is the first for Northwestern in any sport since 1941, when the school's fencing team captured the NCAA crown.

Quarterfinals

Northwestern 8, Princeton 6; Dartmouth 13, Georgetown 3; Virginia 13, Boston U. 9; Duke 15, North Carolina 7.

Semifinals

Northwestern scoring: Sarah Albrecht 3, Lindsey Munday 2, Kristen Kjellman 2, Christy Finch 1.

Dartmouth scoring: Katieanne Christian 2, Sara Szefi 1, Kristen Zimmer 1.

Shots: Northwestern 22, Dartmouth 11. Goalkeeper saves: Dartmouth (Devon Wills) 9, Northwestern (Ashley Gersuk) 3.

Virginia scoring: Amy Appelt 3, Tyler Leachman 3, Cary Chasney 2, Kim Connors 2, Ashley Haas 2, Kate Breslin 1, Courtney Young 1, Nikki Lieb 1.

Duke scoring: Kristen Waagbo 3, Katie Chrest 3, Leigh Jester 3, Rachel Sanford 2, Stefanie Sparks 1, Jessica Adam 1.

Shots: Virginia 23, Duke 17. Goalkeeper saves: Virginia (Ginger Miles) 10; Duke (Megan Huether) 7.

Championship game

Northwestern scoring: Kristen Kjellman 5, Sarah Albrecht 3, Aly Josephs 2, Kristen Boege 2, Lindsey Munday 1.

Virginia scoring: Cary Chasney 6, Tyler Leachman 2, Amy Appelt 1, Kate Breslin 1.

Shots: Northwestern 21, Virginia 23. Goalkeeper saves: Northwestern (Ashley Gersuk) 8, Virginia (Ginger Miles 2, Kendall McBrearty 1) 3.