The 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 28th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The tournament was played from May 10 to May 24, 2009, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland from May 22–24. 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 North Carolina, 21–7, to win their fifth overall, as well as fifth straight, national championship. This would subsequently become the fifth of Northwestern's seven national titles in eight years (2005–2009, 2011–12) as well as the fifth of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005–12). Furthermore, Northwestern's win secured an undefeated season (23–0) for the team.

The leading scorer for the tournament was Katrina Dowd from Northwestern (24 goals). Dowd was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Tournament field A total of 16 teams were invited to participate. 9 teams qualified automatically by winning their conference tournaments while the remaining 7 teams qualified at-large based on their regular season records.

Play-in game

Teams Seed School Conference Berth type RPI Record1 NorthwesternALCAutomatic1 19–02 MarylandACCAutomatic2 19–03 North Carolina ACCAt-large3 13–44 PennIvy LeagueAutomatic4 13–25 Duke ACCAt-large5 14–56 Notre Dame Big EastAt-large6 15–47 Syracuse Big EastAt-large7 13–48 Princeton Ivy LeagueAt-large9 13–3 Boston U.America EastAutomatic11 15–3 ColgatePatriot LeagueAutomatic24 14–4 FairfieldMAACAutomatic16 17–2 GeorgetownBig EastAutomatic8 13–5 MassachusettsAtlantic 10Automatic30 11–7 TowsonCAAAutomatic18 13–5 Vanderbilt ALCAt-large12 10–6 Virginia ACCAt-large10 11–7

Tournament bracket

* Host institution

All-tournament team Kari Ellen Johnson, Maryland Brittany Poist, Maryland Amber Falcone, North Carolina Jenn Russell, North Carolina Laura Zimmerman, North Carolina Hilary Bowen, Northwestern Katrina Dowd, Northwestern (Most outstanding player) Meredith Frank, Northwestern Hannah Nielsen, Northwestern Danielle Spencer, Northwestern Ali DeLuca, Penn Katie Mazer, Penn

See also NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

References