Maddie Epke Returning to Northwestern to Play Field Hockey

Maddie Epke’s college career is not over yet.

A perennial All-American in lacrosse who transferred from James Madison to Northwestern last summer and won an NCAA championship as a senior this year, Epke is returning to Evanston to play field hockey.

First reported Wednesday by the “Inside the 8-Meter” podcast, Epke confirmed the news with USA Lacrosse Magazine on Thursday. She’ll go from one national champion to another. Northwestern has won the last two NCAA field hockey titles and three in the last five years.

A member of the gold medal-winning 2024 U.S. Women’s National U20 Team in lacrosse, Epke is one of the premier draw specialists and offensive threats in the game. She set James Madison’s career draw controls record (485) in just three seasons and teamed with Madison Smith to give the Wildcats a lethal 1-2 punch in the center circle this year.

Epke scored a goal and added an assist in Northwestern’s 14-11 victory over North Carolina in the NCAA championship game May 24, after which she joined the Boston Guard of the Women’s Lacrosse League as the 15th overall draft pick. She has appeared in one game this season, winning 23 of 29 draw controls (79.3 percent) in her pro debut June 6 against the California Palms.

While NCAA rules around amateurism and athlete eligibility have evolved since the landmark House settlement of 2025, Epke would still be eligible under the traditional model since she’s competing in a different sport than that for which she signed a professional contract.

A native of Guilford, Conn., Epke was a three-sport athlete in high school. She graduated from Guilford as the school’s all-time scoring leader in field hockey (90 goals, 69 assists) and ice hockey (162 goals, 92 assists), while also setting records for draw controls (609) and assists (197) in lacrosse.

Epke is not the first Wildcats lacrosse standout to try her hand at field hockey. Lindsey Frank played both sports first as an undergraduate at Richmond and then as a graduate student at Northwestern in 2023-24.