Four Maryland women’s lacrosse players earn All-Big Ten honors

With the Big Ten tournament kicking off Thursday for the Maryland women’s lacrosse team, a few Terps got the nod for All-Big Ten honors.

Defender Lizzie Colson was a unanimous selection to the first team, marking the third time in her career the Big Ten gave her that honor. Joining Colson on the first team are midfielder Grace Griffin (at-large selection) and sophomore attacker Hannah Leubecker.

Leubecker was the breakout star for the Terrapins this season as she became the highest-scoring Terp through eight games in program history with 35 goals. Her 28 goals in her first six starts surpassed previous record-holder Karri Ellen Johnson (21) as well.

Griffin has been the glue holding Maryland together throughout this peculiar year. Time and time again the senior captain has pulled through for the Terps when they needed it most, with her game-winning score against Johns Hopkins on April 14 being the more recent example.

As for Colson, she has been dominant on the defense. She has caused 37 turnovers this season, the most in the country, while her ground ball rate of 3.67 puts her at the top spot in the Big Ten.

Rounding out the All-Big Ten selections for Maryland is midfielder Shaylan Ahearn who earned a second team at-large nod.

Ahearn has been a force on the draw this season, adding a nice complementary piece to Colson by snagging 45 on the year. Despite trailing Colson in that regard, Ahearn is still among the best in the conference in collecting draws, ranking sixth in the Big Ten averaging 3.75 per game average.

The rest of the Big Ten accolades—attacker, midfielder, defender, goaltender, freshman and coach of the year—will be announced on May 3, following the conclusion of the Big Ten tournament.