Sarah Gresham Left it All on the Field with Gutty Performance

EVANSTON, Ill. — Sam Forrest normally isn’t one to show emotion. The 2025 IWLCA defender of the year with the bright green cleats and a chip on her shoulder seems to always have her game face plastered on.

That was not the case Sunday, as a red-faced Forrest fought back tears. She couldn’t bottle them up. Her college career ended with a 14-11 loss to Northwestern in the NCAA championship game, and she wore her heart on her sleeve.

Those emotions quickly shifted, though. The tears didn’t stop. If anything, they flowed faster and she became choked up talking about the warrior-like game played by Sarah Gresham in the draw circle.

“Couldn't be more proud of her,” Forrest said. “She's a great friend and a great player. She's the definition of truly giving it her all until the last moment because she really had nothing left to give and she gave it all for us. I love her.”

Gresham tore her right ACL in the NCAA quarterfinals on May 14 against Stanford. She played sparingly in a 16-6 semifinal win over Maryland, coming on late with the game seemingly well in hand.

Perhaps it was in an effort to get her on the field one last time. That much was unclear after the game. But in the championship game, Gresham couldn’t sit idly by.

Charlotte Rathjen, the freshman taking draws in her stead, was a mixed bag in the semifinals and lost the first three draws to Madison Smith on Sunday. Head coach Jenny Levy is supremely confident that Rathjen will be a key part of next year’s draw plans, but in a do-or-die game, Gresham left it all out there and took the rest of the draws.

“It's extremely inspiring for all of us,” Chloe Humphrey said. “I mean, the second she went down, she was determined to still play the rest of the season, and that just goes to show how incredible of a teammate she is. She did give it everything that she had. We are just proud of her and to be her teammate.”

Winning a statistical category is meaningless when the game’s result favored Northwestern, but Gresham can be proud of her efforts. North Carolina held the draw edge 14-13, meaning it won 14 of 24 following her entry into the game.

Levy said it was less about talent — which Rathjen has plenty of — and more about experience against Smith.

“Gresh was unbelievable today, the courage that she had, her positivity,” Levy said. “She went down with an ACL in the Stanford game, and she's been fighting like crazy to get back, and really, really assured us and her teammates that she could contribute to this game today against a really good Madison Smith on the center draw X.”

It was really the lone bright spot for North Carolina, the undefeated national champion a year ago with expectations — both internally and externally — of repeating in 2026.

Chloe Humphrey put together a season for the ages, finishing the spring tied with Madison Taylor for the NCAA’s Division I single-season goals record (109). But Mary Carroll and the rest of Northwestern’s zone packed things in tight and kept any of the Tar Heels from taking over.

The goalie tandem of Betty Nelson and Lexi Zenk were rocky, making just seven saves combined, and North Carolina turned the ball over 20 times.

Calls were turned over, too. North Carolina nearly had a 10-7 lead, but a Northwestern challenge on Reese King’s call showed that King stepped in the crease. It was a two-goal swing, as Maddie Epke delivered a goal on the other end immediately following the reversal.

Later, Caroline Godine’s goal was wiped off the board when a replay initiated by Kelly Amonte Hiller showed a dangerous follow-through — another momentum-killer for the Tar Heels.

“Haven't looked at the video or the film, but it seems to me that we have a lot of work to do with our game,” she said. “I think it's unfortunate. They didn't give us an explanation on what it was. We clearly saw on our iPads what it was. So, we probably disagreed with that.”

It leaves plenty of feelings for Humphrey and the rest of North Carolina’s returning stars to stew on over the summer.

“I'm someone who really tries not to focus on the individual performances that I put on,” Humphrey said when asked about her scoring prowess this spring. “I'm concerned about hoisting trophies with my team. So today, it's obviously disappointing to not be able to provide for my team when they needed it most. I think I learned a lot about myself as a player and a person, just being surrounded by such incredible teammates every day that are willing to push me, and I do really think that this will light a fire under us, and we will be back. I think we are going to take a lot away from this.”

Gresham may not be back. She played her first two seasons at Virginia Tech (2023-24) before transferring to Chapel Hill and starting 25 of her 41 career games in the circle.

If she’s not back, then she can move on knowing she left every ounce of herself on the field.

“She was all-in and just an incredible, fierce competitor who showed a lot of courage in the situation that she was in and wanted to leave it out there,” Levy said.