# 2008 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament

The 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 27th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The championship game was played at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland during May 2008. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate.
Northwestern defeated Penn 10–6 to win their fourth overall, as well as fourth straight, national championship. This would subsequently become the fourth of Northwestern's seven national titles in eight years (2005–2009, 2011–12).
The leading scorer for the tournament was Hilary Bowen from Northwestern (23 goals). Bowen was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

## Tournament field

A total of 16 teams were invited to participate. 8 teams qualified automatically by winning their conference tournaments while the remaining 8 teams qualified at-large based on their regular season records.

### Play-in games

| May 3 | May 3 | May 3 |
| | Colgate (Patriot, 10–9) | 19 |
| | Marist (MAAC, 10–8) | 18 |
| May 3 | May 3 | May 3 |
| | Boston U. (A-East, 16–2) | 18 |
| | Sacred Heart (NEC, 12–7) | 3 |

### Teams

| Seed | School | Conference | Berth type | Record |
| 1 | Northwestern | ALC | Automatic | 17–1 |
| 2 | Penn | Ivy League | Automatic | 14–1 |
| 3 | Maryland | ACC | At-large | 17–2 |
| 4 | Virginia | ACC | Automatic | 14–3 |
| 5 | Syracuse | Big East | Automatic | 16–2 |
| 6 | Georgetown | Big East | At-large | 12–6 |
| 7 | Boston U. | America East | Automatic | 17–2 |
| 8 | Princeton | Ivy League | At-large | 12–4 |
| | Colgate | Patriot League | Automatic | 11–9 |
| | Duke | ACC | At-large | 11–7 |
| | New Hampshire | America East | At-large | 13–5 |
| | North Carolina | ACC | At-large | 12–6 |
| | Notre Dame | Big East | At-large | 12–6 |
| | Temple | Atlantic 10 | Automatic | 13–6 |
| | Towson | CAA | Automatic | 13–5 |
| | Vanderbilt | ALC | At-large | 13–5 |

## Tournament bracket

* The first two rounds were held on campus sites.
| First Round Campus sites | First Round Campus sites | First Round Campus sites | Quarterfinals Campus sites | Quarterfinals Campus sites | Quarterfinals Campus sites | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD | Semifinals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD | | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD | Finals Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD |
| 1 | Northwestern | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Notre Dame | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Notre Dame | 7 | 1 | Northwestern | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Princeton | 11 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Princeton | 14 | 8 | Princeton | 11 | | | | | | | |
| | Vanderbilt | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Vanderbilt | 10 | | | | 1 | Northwestern | 16 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Syracuse | 8 | | | | |
| 5 | Syracuse | 21 | | | | | | | 5 | Syracuse | 8 | | | | |
| | Towson | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Towson | 9 | 5 | Syracuse | 13 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | North Carolina | 11 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Virginia | 7 | | North Carolina | 11 | | | | | | | |
| | North Carolina | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | North Carolina | 11 | | | | | | | | 1 | Northwestern | 10 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Penn | 6 |
| 3 | Maryland | 20 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Penn | 6 |
| | Temple | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Temple | 7 | 3 | Maryland | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Duke | 9 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Georgetown | 8 | | Duke | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | Duke | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Duke | 10 | | | | | Duke | 8 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Penn (OT) | 9 | | | | |
| 7 | Boston U. | 16 | | | | | | | 2 | Penn (OT) | 9 | | | | |
| | New Hampshire | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | New Hampshire | 8 | 7 | Boston U. | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Penn | 8 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Penn | 16 | 2 | Penn | 8 | | | | | | | |
| | Colgate | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |

## All-tournament team

* Carolyn Davis, Duke
* Lindsey Gilbride, Duke
* Hilary Bowen, Northwestern (Most Outstanding Player)
* Maggie Bremer, Northwestern
* Christy Finch, Northwestern
* Meredith Frank, Northwestern
* Morgan Lathrop, Northwestern
* Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern
* Melissa Lehman, Penn
* Rachel Manson, Penn
* Hilary Renna, Penn
* Megan Mosenson, Syracuse
* Halley Quillinan, Syracuse