Two movements began that day. Northwestern began playing for Jaclyn, and soon after it started winning national championships, four in a row. The team is 20-0 this season and three victories from its fifth straight title. Northwestern will host Princeton in an N.C.A.A. quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The players say they are just as excited about what they helped create off the field during their championship run. The team\u2019s support of Jaclyn was a catalyst for her father, Denis, to start a charity that pairs pediatric brain tumor patients with college teams. Nearly 100 children have been \u201cadopted\u201d\u009d by teams like St. Bonaventure and Southern Mississippi. Three hundred teams are on a waiting list to adopt such children.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisney couldn\u2019t make up some of the stuff that\u2019s happened,\u201d\u009d Denis Murphy said.<\/p>\n
Jaclyn and Denis Murphy said the bond the Northwestern team formed with Jaclyn helped save her life. She is now a healthy 14-year-old freshman at Arlington High School in LaGrangeville, N.Y., where she plays junior varsity lacrosse.<\/p>\n