Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/2/22
From Press Release
Northwestern has been voted unanimously by the conference coaches as the 2022 Big Ten women’s lacrosse preseason favorite. The Wildcats are followed in the preseason poll by Maryland in second, Rutgers in third, Johns Hopkins in fourth and Penn State in fifth, with Ohio State and Michigan rounding out the poll in sixth and seventh, respectively. All seven head coaches voted in the preseason poll and selected three players from their own teams to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List.
Last season, Northwestern reached the NCAA Final Four for the 12th time in program history after winning the Big Ten regular season and tournament crowns. The Wildcats closed out the season with a 15-1 record overall, including 11-0 in conference play to win their first Big Ten title.
The Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List features 21 standouts from the seven schools, including 10 2021 All-Big Ten honorees. Returning first-team All-Big Ten honorees include Johns Hopkins’ Kathleen Garvey, Maryland’s Grace Griffin, Northwestern’s Lauren Gilbert and Rutgers’ Meghan Ball and Cassidy Spilis (Seneca-NJ). Second-team honorees in 2021 included Johns Hopkins’ Shelby Harrison, Michigan’s Kaitlyn Mead, Ohio State’s Lindsay Epstein, Penn State’s Kristin O’Neill and Rutgers’ TT Naslonski. Garvey also took home the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year award in 2021.
The 2022 Big Ten Women’s Lacrosse Tournament will be hosted by Rutgers from May 6-8. The tournament will be a four-team field, with two semifinals on Friday and the championship game on Sunday.
The 2022 preseason poll and complete Players to Watch list can be found below.
2022 BIG TEN WOMEN’S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
Northwestern
Maryland
Rutgers
Johns Hopkins
Penn State
Ohio State
Michigan
2022 WOMEN’S LACROSSE PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kathleen Garvey, Sr., Johns Hopkins
Shelby Harrison, Sr., Johns Hopkins
Annika Meyer, Sr., Johns Hopkins
Abby Bosco, Gr., Maryland
Aurora Cordingley, Gr., Maryland
Grace Griffin, Gr., Maryland
Maddie Burns, So., Michigan
Kaitlyn Mead, Sr., Michigan
Caitlin Muir, Sr., Michigan
Madison Doucette (Unionville), Sr., Northwestern
Lauren Gilbert, Sr., Northwestern
Jill Girardi, Sr., Northwestern
Lindsay Epstein, Gr., Ohio State
Nicole Ferrara, Jr., Ohio State
Chloe Johnson, Sr., Ohio State
Sammy Dupcak, So., Penn State
Kristin O’Neill, So., Penn State
Taylor Regan, Gr., Penn State
Meghan Ball, Jr., Rutgers
TT Naslonski, Gr., Rutgers
Cassidy Spilis (Seneca-NJ), Jr., Rutgers
