The IWLCA has announced that four student-athletes from each division have been selected as positional Players of the Year and each division’s All-America committee also selected one of these honorees as the Player of the Year . Please visit LaxSportsNetwork to watch the IWLCA Player of the Year Special airing at 5:00 pm on Thursday, June 13, and available on-demand after that date.
DIVISION I
Player of the Year: Megan Taylor, Sr., G, Maryland
Goalkeeper of the Year: Megan Taylor, Sr., Maryland
Attacker of the Year: Sam Apuzzo, Sr., Boston College
Midfielder of the Year: Dempsey Arsenault, Sr., Boston College
Defender of the Year: Julia Braig, Sr., Maryland
A two-time All-American and two-time team captain, Taylor had one of the best seasons ever for a goalkeeper in 2019, leading Maryland to the 2019 National Championship. Taylor finished the season with a .551 save percentage (217 saves, 177 goals allowed), the best mark of any power-five goalkeeper in the country. Taylor was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after posting 24 saves to only 23 goals allowed in the Final Four. The senior was named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year for the fourth year in a row, named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week six weeks in a row (a conference record) and the IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week three different times. Taylor is only the second goalkeeper to ever be named a Tewaaraton Finalist and the first one to claim the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s outstanding college lacrosse player.
One of Boston College’s most decorated and dominant athletes of all-time, Apuzzo became the program’s first Tewaaraton winner as a junior and showed no signs of slowing down throughout her standout senior campaign. The attacker put up another program-high 94 goals, topping her previous record of 88. She sat atop the nation consistently in points, goals and draws through her finale, earning All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Tournament Team and NCAA All-Tournament Team selections while being named ACC and ECAC Attacker of the Year. She was named to the Tewaaraton Finalist list for the second consecutive year.
The Eagles’ most consistent dual-threat, Arsenault headed the midfield and was a dominant presence on either end of the field. Starting in every single contest of her career, Arsenault totaled 92 points on the season through 65 goals and 27 assists, third-best on the team. She also contributed 100 draw wins on the season while being credited with 44 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers. Through her senior year, she earned placements on the All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Tournament Team and NCAA All-Tournament Team while being named ACC Midfielder of the Year. Arsenault made her debut on the Tewaaraton nominee list and became a top-5 finalist in 2019.
A 2018 All-American and two-time team captain, Braig led Maryland’s Big Ten best defense, only allowing 8.09 goals per game. Always defending the opponent’s top player, Braig topped her team with 27 caused turnovers and tallied 30 ground balls as well. In a 22-1 season that ended with the program’s 15th National Championship, Braig led Maryland defense held 15 opponents to under 10 goals. Braig was the Big Ten Defender of the Year for the second year in a row and was selected to the All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament and NCAA All-Tournament teams, as well as being a Tewaaraton nominee.
DIVISION II
Player of the Year: Kole Pollock, Jr., A, Adelphi
Goalkeeper of the Year: Hannah George, Jr., LeMoyne
Attacker of the Year: Kole Pollock, Jr., Adelphi
Midfielder of the Year: Hunter Isnardi, Sr., Mercy
Defender of the Year: Samantha Keesey, Sr., Florida Southern
Adelphi’s leader in goals and second in points in 2019, Pollock is a two-time NE10 All-Conference first team honoree. She helped the team to a 19-3 overall record and their second NCAA Championship title in her career. Pollock was responsible for 18 goals through the four games of the NCAA tournament, earning the Most Outstanding Player crown along with landing on the All-Tournament team. In 2019 she finished eighth in NCAA Division II and second in the league with total goals (81) en route to exceeding 200 goals in her career. What may have been her most important goal of the season, was the game-winner in the double OT victory over Le Moyne to send the Panthers back to the Final Four.
A three-time All-American, George led Le Moyne to a 20-2 record and the top seed in the East Region as the Dolphins earned their fifth straight NCAA berth. She led the nation in goals against average at 5.98 after recording the second-best marks each of her first two collegiate seasons. She recorded a .535 save percentage, which ranked third in Division II, while scooping up a career-high 32 ground balls. George also earned her third consecutive IWLCA East Region and Northeast-10 Conference First Team honors in 2019.
A three-time All-American, Isnardi led the Mavericks to a 15-5 record and an appearance in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Isnardi led Mercy in goals, points, draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls. She was selected as East Coast Conference (ECC) Midfielder of the Year, First Team All-ECC, First Team All-East Region and was the only Division II player named to the 2019 Tewaaraton Award Watch List. Isnardi set the NCAA Division II career goals record when she scored her 300th career goal against Molloy in the ECC Tournament Semifinals on May 2nd. The senior led the ECC in goals, ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers and ranked third in Division II in goals per game and draw controls per game and second in goals. Isnardi ends her career with a program-best 310 goals, 351 points and 694 draw controls in 77 games. This is her second consecutive IWLCA Midfielder of the Year honor.
Keesey helped guide a Mocs defense that limited opponents to a stunning 8.25 goals per game and an 8.17 mark in SSC play. The senior defender totaled 110 draw controls, caused 48 turnovers, picked up 39 ground balls and recorded six points (1g, 5a) to round out her collegiate career. When Keesey recorded her 100th draw control on the season she established Florida Southern as the only team with multiple players with 100+ draw controls in 2019. She has set career highs in draw controls (110), caused turnovers (48), and assists (5). Her six points this season tied her career mark set in 2018 when she totaled five goals and an assist. She is third all-time in individual single-season draw control totals after recording 110 this year.
DIVISION III
Player of the Year: Dakota Adamec, Sr., A, Tufts
Goalkeeper of the Year: Hanna Ashby, Sr., Mary Washington
Attacker of the Year: Dakota Adamec, Sr., Tufts
Midfielder of the Year: Courtney Patterson, Jr., Gettysburg
Defender of the Year: Nicole Clauter, Sr., York
Adamec, the NESCAC Player of the Year, recorded 43 goals, seven assists, 15 ground balls, 47 draw controls and seven caused turnovers in 2019. She tied the school record with eight goals in a win over Wesleyan on April 16. Adamec, also a first-team All-American in 2018, led her team to its first-ever appearance in an NCAA semi-final game as Tufts set a new school record for victories with 19.
Hanna Ashby, a third team All-American selection two years ago, helped UMW reach the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season and guided the Eagles to their highest ranking ever at #2 in the IWLCA poll during the week of March 4th. Ashby was a force in cage and led the Capital Athletic Conference in save percentage at 53.6%. Ashby was named first team All-Region, first team All-CAC and was awarded Player of the Week three times.
Patterson was the catalyst for Gettysburg’s domination on the draw and played a significant role on both sides of the field. She was named Centennial Conference Midfielder of the Year and earned her second all-conference honor after posting a team-best 100 draw controls and tying for the team lead with 34 ground balls. She also racked up a career-high 50 points on 39 goals and assists. Patterson scored a career-high seven points in a win over #7 York.
Clauter is a two-time first-team All-American for the Spartans as York won a school-record 17 games, a Capital Athletic Conference championship and a third consecutive berth in the NCAA Elite Eight. She totaled 55 ground balls, 116 draw controls and 28 caused turnovers in 2019. Clauter was named the Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the second time in her Spartan career while she earned first-team All-Metro Region accolades for the third time in her career. The Spartans won a school-record 60 games over Clauter’s four-year Spartan career.