NEW YORK – The annual BIG EAST women’s lacrosse awards were announced Wednesday, with four schools receiving the six major awards. Regular season champion Denver led the way with three major awards, while Connecticut, Marquette and Villanova each earned one.
Following an undefeated record in conference play for the fifth consecutive season, Denver graduate student Trinity McPherson was voted BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, while graduate student Julia Gilbert was named BIG EAST Attacker of the Year. Additionally, the Pioneers’ staff, led by head coach Liza Kelly, was honored as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year.
UConn graduate student Landyn White earned her third consecutive BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year award, the most such honors since the award was introduced in 2015. To round out the major awards, Marquette senior Leigh Steiner was voted BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year and Villanova midfielder Mary Moore was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. All-BIG EAST awards are selected via a vote of the league’s head coaches who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
McPherson is the fifth consecutive Pioneer to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors, joining Sam Thacker (2023, 2022), Molly Little (2021) and Katherine Fischer (2019). The graduate defender finished the regular season ranked top five in the BIG EAST in caused turnovers per game (1.94, second), ground balls per game (2.06, fourth), and draw controls per game (3.94, fifth). She also led a defensive unit that ranked ninth in the nation with just 8.38 opponent goals allowed per game, including holding three ranked opponents to single-digit scoring outputs.
Gilbert becomes the second Pioneer to garner back-to-back BIG EAST Attacker of the Year honors, joining Bea Behrins who won it in both 2022 and 2021. This is also the fifth consecutive year a Denver player has been awarded Attacker of the Year honors (Gilbert: 2023, Behrins: 2022, 2021; Quintin Hoch-Bullen: 2019). The graduate attacker led Denver with 48 goals during the regular season, the third-most in the BIG EAST. She also totaled 59 points, good for fifth in the conference, while averaging 5.31 shots on goal per game, the second-best mark in the league. Additionally, during conference play Gilbert ranked second in the BIG EAST with 3.40 goals per game.
White garners her third straight BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year honors, becoming the first player in BIG EAST Women’s Lacrosse history to receive three major awards. The graduate keeper finished atop the BIG EAST in save percentage, with her .487 clip ranking ninth in the nation. She also led the conference with 2.81 ground balls per game and was second in goals against average (10.42) and saves per game (9.13). Her 18 total saves on March 24 against Denver were also the most by any BIG EAST goalkeeper in a game this season.
Steiner is the second consecutive and third ever Marquette player to earn the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year award. Lydia Foust earned the honor last season, while Grace Gabriel shared the honors in both the 2019 and 2018 season. The senior finished top five in the conference in goals (45, fourth) and total points (61, t-third), while averaging the second-most shots per game with 7.12 per contest. The three-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week also tallied the highest single-game goal total in BIG EAST play with eight scores on April 3 against Butler.
Denver earns BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the third time in program history after receiving honors in 2022 and 2019. Led by 18th-year head coach Liza Kelly, the Pioneers finished the regular season at 13-3, while going a perfect 5-0 in BIG EAST play. Denver also ended the regular season on a 10-game win streak, highlighted by victories over No. 11 Stony Brook, No. 20 Colorado and No. 8 Yale. The Pioneers head into the postseason with one of the best defenses in the country, as they ranked fourth in the nation in caused turnovers per game (11.88) and ninth in the nation in opponent goals allowed per game (8.38). Denver also led the BIG EAST in scoring margin (5.13), points per game (21.13) and assists per game (7.63). The Pios head into postseason play ranked 10th in the USA Lacrosse Rankings and 13th in the most recent IWLCA Polls.
Moore becomes the second Villanova player to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors, as she joins Katie Comerford who earned the honor in 2017. The first-year midfielder finished the regular season tied for second on the Wildcats with 21 goals, while ranking second on the team with 12 assists. She also finished second on the team in ground balls (25) and draw controls (27), starting in all 15 games. During conference play, Moore recorded three or more points four times, including a career-best seven-point effort to cap off the season against Marquette.
In addition to major awards, a 20-member All-BIG EAST First Team and a 16-member Second Team were selected. The First Team had four players added due to a tie in voting. McPherson, Gilbert and Steiner were three of nine unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selections. Additional unanimous selections include UConn junior defender Riley Daly, redshirt-sophomore attacker Rayea Davis and graduate attacker Kate Shaffer, Denver senior defender Anna Palmisano, Marquette junior attacker Meg Bireley, and Villanova junior attacker Sydney Pappas. Additional First Team honorees include White, Moore, Butler senior midfielder Leah Rubino, UConn freshman defender Abby Beran and graduate midfielder Madelyn George, Denver junior attacker Lauren Black, junior midfielder Caroline Colimore, senior draw specialist Abby Jenkins and graduate attacker Olivia Penoyer, Georgetown graduate defender Maggie O’Brien, and Marquette senior draw specialist Josie Kropp.
BIG EAST Attacker of the Year
Julia Gilbert, Denver, Gr., A
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Leigh Steiner, Marquette, Sr., M
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Trinity McPherson, Denver, Gr., D
BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Landyn White, Connecticut, Gr., GK
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Mary Moore, Villanova, Fr., M
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Denver
All-BIG EAST First Team^
Leah Rubino, Butler, Sr., M
Abby Beran, Connecticut, Fr., D
Riley Daly, Connecticut, Jr., D*
Rayea Davis, Connecticut, R-So., A*
Madelyn George, Connecticut, Gr., M
Kate Shaffer, Connecticut, Gr., A*
Landyn White, Connecticut, Gr., GK
Lauren Black, Denver, Jr., A
Caroline Colimore, Denver, Jr., M
Julia Gilbert, Denver, Gr., A*
Abby Jenkins, Denver, Sr., DS
Trinity McPherson, Denver, Gr., D*
Anna Palmisano, Denver, Sr., D*
Olivia Penoyer, Denver, Gr., A
Maggie O’Brien, Georgetown, Gr., D
Meg Bireley, Marquette, Jr., A*
Josie Kropp, Marquette, Sr., DS
Leigh Steiner, Marquette, Sr., M*
Mary Moore, Villanova, Fr., M
Sydney Pappas, Villanova, Jr., A*
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Luci Selander, Butler, So., A
Abby Charron, Connecticut, Sr., A
Emelia Bohi, Denver, Jr., GK
Bryn McCaughey, Denver, Sr., D
Gracie Driggs, Georgetown, So., A
Emma Gebhardt, Georgetown, Jr., A
Tatum Geist, Georgetown, Sr., M
Melissa Massimino, Georgetown, Sr., D
Maley Starr, Georgetown, Jr., M
Leah Warehime, Georgetown, Jr., GK
Kaitlyn Huber, Marquette, Sr., D
Tess Osburn, Marquette, So., A
Sami Carey, Villanova, Jr., A
Maddy Stoddard, Villanova, Jr., D
Emma Verhoest, Villanova, Fr., DS
Lola Mancuso, Xavier, So., M
*denotes unanimous selection
^extra players added due to a tie in voting