NEW YORK – With the 2017 BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse Championship presented by Jeep just one day away, the Conference announced its regular-season award winners. Reigning champion Florida collected the lion’s share of honors, including four major awards and seven All-BIG EAST First Team certificates.
No. 2/3 Florida claimed at least a share of its third consecutive regular-season title this year with a perfect 9-0 record, and enters the postseason with a 15-2 overall mark. The Gators’ mentors, led by head coach Amanda O’Leary, were voted BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for a second consecutive year. O’Leary guided three major award winners in BIG EAST Attacker of the Year Mollie Stevens, Defensive Player of the Year Caroline Fitzgerald and Goalkeeper of the Year Haley Hicklen. All three were All-BIG EAST First Team selections, with Fitzgerald, Stevens and Sydney Pirreca picked unanimously. Fellow Gators Sammi Burgess, Lindsey Ronbeck and Taylor Bresnahan were also first-team honorees.
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Francesca Whitehurst led five All-BIG EAST selections for Georgetown, including two first-team picks with Whitehurst and sophomore attacker Morgan Ryan. Villanova’s Katie Comerford rounded out the major award winners as the first BIG EAST Freshman of the Year out of Villanova.
Stevens guided the league’s top-scoring offense (18.00 goals per game) with her 2.67 goals per game average, including a trio of game winners. The senior added 3.67 points, 2.44 ground balls and 5.33 draw controls per contest. Ronbeck’s 2.78 goals average ranked third in the BIG EAST this season, while Burgess listed fifth in points (3.89). The Gator attackers combined for six BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week certificates this year, including three for Stevens.
Fitzgerald anchored the defense which limited BIG EAST foes to just 5.78 goals per game, fewest in the league. The senior garners Defensive Player of the Year plaudits for the second straight season after holding eight of nine BIG EAST foes to single-digit goals. Hicklen was the sturdy last line of defense for Florida, boasting a 5.39 goals against average, .582 save percentage and denying 5.89 shots per game. She also added 2.67 ground balls per contest.
Whitehurst led the Hoyas to a 7-2 BIG EAST record and the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Championship. The sophomore becomes the first Midfielder of the Year out of Georgetown since Sophia Thomas in 2011. Whitehurst, a three-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week this season, averaged 2.00 goals, 2.78 points and 4.00 draw controls per game in conference play.
Comerford, who was joined on the All-BIG EAST Second Team by fellow Wildcat Sam Scarfogliero, was a three-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week this season. The rookie finished league play as the top-scoring freshman, with her 2.78 goals per game ranked third among all conference players, and her 3.89 points average ranked fifth. In her first season of collegiate lacrosse, Comerford totaled 40 points, 16 assists and 56 points overall, team highs in all categories.
No. 16/16 Denver, Marquette and Temple each placed two players on the All-BIG EAST First Team, with Pioneer attacker Kendra Lanuza and defender Layne Voorhees selected unanimously. Lanuza was the BIG EAST’s assists-leader at 2.78 dishes per game, while listing second in points at 4.56 per contest. Voorhees boasted the top caused turnover average in the BIG EAST by a notable margin, posting 2.67 per contest to go along with the third-highest ground ball clip (2.78).
Golden Eagle sophomore midfielder Grace Gabriel was a unanimous selection after scoring 2.44 goals per game and leading the BIG EAST with 5.67 draw controls per contest. She was joined on the first team by Marquette attacker Julianna Shearer, the BIG EAST’s top scorer at 3.33 goals per game.
Temple senior attacker Brenda McDermott was among the league leaders in points (3.89), goals (2.44) and assists (1.44) to claim All-BIG EAST First Team recognition, along with teammate Morgan Glassford. Glassford was a three-time Midfielder of the Week during her senior campaign, averaging 3.87 draw controls and 2.37 points per game.
BIG EAST points-leader Grace Nolan and Vanderbilt midfielder Julie Blaze rounded out the first-team honorees. Nolan led the Connecticut offense with 4.89 points per game, including 2.78 goals and 2.11 dishes per contest. Blaze listed second on the Commodores in points in league play (21) and was their top goal-scorer overall (33).
Florida and Georgetown each collected three All-BIG EAST Second Team certificates, while Cincinnati, Denver and Villanova earned two apiece. UConn, Marquette, Temple and Vanderbilt added one each to the second team.
Postseason begins on Thursday with the BIG EAST Championship Semifinals, as top-seeded Florida faces fourth-seeded Temple at 4:30 p.m. ET. No. 2 Georgetown versus No. 3 seed Denver follows at 7 p.m. Semifinal winners square off on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. All three games will be played at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pa. The BIG EAST Digital Network will stream the semifinals live before FS2 takes over for Saturday’s title game. The winner of the BIG EAST Championship receives the league’s automatic bid into the 26-team NCAA Tournament.
BIG EAST Attacker of the Year
Mollie Stevens, Florida, Sr., A
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Francesca Whitehurst, Georgetown, So., M
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida, Sr., D
BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Haley Hicklen, Florida, So., GK
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Katie Comerford, Villanova, Fr., A
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Florida
All-BIG EAST First Team^
Julie Blaze, Vanderbilt, So., M
Taylor Bresnahan, Florida, Sr., D
Sammi Burgess, Florida, Sr., A
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida, Sr., D*
Grace Gabriel, Marquette, So., M*
Morgan Glassford, Temple, Sr., M
Haley Hicklen, Florida, So., GK
Kendra Lanuza, Denver, So., A*
Brenda McDermott, Temple, Sr., A
Grace Nolan, Connecticut, Jr., A
Sydney Pirreca, Florida, So., M*
Lindsey Ronbeck, Florida, So., A
Morgan Ryan, Georgetown, So., A
Julianna Shearer, Marquette, Sr., A
Mollie Stevens, Florida, Sr., A*
Layne Voorhees, Denver, Sr., D*
Francesca Whitehurst, Georgetown, So., M*
All-BIG EAST Second Team^
Elizabeth Behrins, Denver, So., A
Monica Borzillo, Cincinnati, Fr., A
Katie Comerford, Villanova, Fr., A
Jill Doherty, Vanderbilt, Sr., A
Amanda Donovan, Cincinnati, So., M
Taylor Gebhardt, Georgetown, So., A
Brianna Harris, Florida, Fr, M
Jacqueline Jordan, Connecticut, Sr., A
Allison Lane, Marquette, Jr., M
Nicole Latgis, Temple, Jr., D
Allie Pavinelli, Florida, Jr., M
Shayna Pirreca, Florida, Jr., A
Sam Scarfogliero, Villanova, Sr., D
Jenny Schwalje, Georgetown, Sr., D
Hannah Seibel, Georgetown, Jr., M
Maddy Stevenson, Denver, Sr., GK
*unanimous selection
^extra players added due to a tie in voting