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The Big Ten announced its 2019 women’s lacrosse award winners on Monday, and Maryland dominated the list with Northwestern sweeping up the remaining categories.
For Maryland, Jen Giles was named Midfielder of the Year, Julia Braig won Defender of the Year, Megan Taylor was named Goaltender of the Year and Cathy Reese won co-Coach of the Year.
Northwestern swept the other awards, with Selena Lasota being named Attacker of the Year, Izzy Scane winning Freshman of the Year and head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller sharing Coach of the Year with Reese.
Through the Big Ten tournament, Giles leads Maryland in goals (50), assists (22) and total points (72). Her averages of 2.63 goals, 1.16 assists and 3.79 points per game rank fifth, seventh and fourth in the Big Ten, respectively.
Braig tallied 23 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers while being one of two seniors leading the Terrapins’ back line. Maryland ranked third in the nation with just 7.66 goals against per game and first in the nation with a clearing percentage of 94.4 percent.
Taylor was unanimously selected, as the senior goaltender racked up a record six straight Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards throughout the middle of this season. She also ranked sixth in the nation with a goals against average of just 8.12, and led the country with a save percentage of 58 percent on the season.
Reese earned her share of the Coach of the Year award after guiding Maryland to an undefeated regular season, breaking the program record for wins in the process. The Terrapins’ success this season came against an incredibly difficult schedule, with nine matchups against opponents ranked in the top 10.
This set of awards comes four days after the announcement of the 2019 Big Ten All-Conference Team, in which Maryland took eight of the 21 spots. Giles, Braig and senior attack Caroline Steele were all unanimous selections. Taylor, graduate midfielder Erica Evans, senior defender Shelby Mercer, junior attack Kali Hartshorn and junior defender Lizzie Colson were all selected as well.
The Terps earned the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and will be looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season when the Terrapins host the winner of Stony Brook vs. James Madison on Sunday in the second round.