Johns Hopkins' Reagan O'Brien and Northwestern's Madison Taylor Named Tewaaraton Finalists

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced that Johns Hopkins defender Reagan O’Brien and Northwestern attacker Madison Taylor are among the five women’s finalist for the 2026 Tewaaraton Award Presented by Stifel, the sport’s preeminent award honoring the top college lacrosse players in the country.

Joining O’Brien and Taylor on the list of finalists are 2025 Tewaaraton winner and 2026 ACC Attacker of the Year Chloe Humphrey from North Carolina, All-Patriot League First Team attacker Alyssa Chung from Navy, and Patriot League Midfielder of the Year Brigid Duffy from Army.    

The award’s winner will be announced on May 28 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

O'Brien is the first defender to be named a Tewaaraton Award Finalist since 2021 and Johns Hopkins’ first finalist since 2007.

A unanimous 2026 First Team All-Big Ten selection, O'Brien was named the Big Ten Defender of Year for the second straight year. She is the national leader in caused turnovers (75) and caused turnovers per game (4.69). She is the only player in the nation averaging more than 3.51 caused turnovers per game. O'Brien also ranks fifth in the nation in ground balls (62) and ground balls per game (3.88).

O'Brien broke the NCAA Division I record for career caused turnovers in Hopkins' Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Rutgers and now boasts 241. One season after setting a new NCAA record with 103 caused turnovers, O'Brien's 75 caused turnovers so far this season are third most in NCAA history.

This is the third consecutive year Taylor has been named a finalist for the award and marks the fourth consecutive season Northwestern has fielded at least one finalist.

Taylor, who set an NCAA record with 109 goals last season, ranks second in the NCAA with 80 goals, while her 111 points are good for third. Taylor was named Big Ten Attacker of the Year for the second consecutive season after leading the Wildcats to their fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament title.

One of the nation’s most consistent performers, Taylor has started all 83 games since arriving in Evanston and has recorded at least one point in 64 consecutive contests. Taylor is the first player in NCAA history to record 450 points and 200 draw controls and leads all active players with 325 goals and 455 points.