Big Ten Announces 2023 Women's Lacrosse Individual Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2023 Women’s Lacrosse individual awards on Monday, after a vote of the league’s coaches.

Regular season and Big Ten Tournament champions Northwestern claimed three awards, as Izzy Scane and head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller were unanimously named Attacker and Coach of the Year, while Madison Taylor was named Rookie of the Year.

Big Ten Tournament runner-up Maryland had two award recipients, as Shaylan Ahearn was named Midfielder of the Year and goaltender Emily Sterling Goaltender of the Year.

Rutgers’ Madison Ball rounded out the honors, garnering Defender of the Year accolades. 

Scane earns her second Big Ten Attacker of the Year honor after leading the country with 77 goals and 102 points. The Tewaaraton Award finalist scored at least four goals in 15 of her 16 games this season, including a 10-goal performance in a victory over Notre Dame. Scane was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament after posting 14 points and eight goals in leading Northwestern to its third Big Ten title.

Hiller adds a third Coach of the Year honor to her trophy case, joining accolades from 2019 and 2021. Hiller led the Wildcats to an impressive 17-1 record this season, including 17 consecutive victories. The Wildcats boast the nation’s top scoring offense, tallying 17.76 goals and 26.59 points per game, while surrendering just 9.47 goals per contest, good for 19th nationally. After clinching its second regular season title, Northwestern added a third Big Ten Tournament championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Taylor wasted little time making her impact felt, as the freshman paired five goal and seven draw controls in her collegiate debut, a 16-15 loss at Syracuse. The eight-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week enters the NCAA Tournament with 63 points, tied for third on the team, on 46 goals and 17 assists. Taylor becomes the third Wildcat to earn the honor, following Scane (2019) and Samantha White (2022).

Ahearn was an integral part of a Maryland team that ranked third in the country with a .625 draw control win percentage. The senior midfielder ranked third in the country with a Big Ten-leading 131 draw controls, nearly 30 more than the second-place finisher. In addition to her prowess in the draw circle, Ahearn paired 20 goals and 15 assists, as her 35 total points ranked sixth on the team.

Sterling was named the league’s top goaltender for a second consecutive year after leading the Big Ten with a .488 save percentage, good for 15th in the country. The senior also boasted a 9.26 goals against average and 163 saves, both second in the league and 14th and 19th in the country, respectively.

Ball, who joins Scane as a Tewaaraton Award finalist, anchored a Scarlet Knights’ defense that ranked second in the conference with 163 caused turnovers.  Ball accounted for a league-high 60 of those caused turnovers, 20 more than any other player in the Big Ten, while her 3.53 caused turnovers per game rank second in Division I. Ball also led Rutgers with 51 ground balls and 101 draw controls, good for 12th and 27th, respectively, in the country.

The complete list of 2023 Big Ten Women’s Lacrosse individual award winners is below:
 
Attacker of the Year: IZZY SCANE, Gr., Northwestern
Midfielder of the Year: Shaylan Ahearn, Sr., Maryland
Defender of the Year: Meghan Ball, Sr., Rutgers
Goaltender of the Year: Emily Sterling, Sr., Maryland
Freshman of the Year: Madison Taylor, M, Northwestern
Coach of the Year: KELLY AMONTE HILLER, Northwestern
 
ALL CAPS indicates unanimous selections