Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/1/23
From Press Release
Maryland has been selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches as the 2023 women’s lacrosse preseason favorite. The Terps are followed in the poll by Northwestern in second, Rutgers in third, Michigan in fourth, and Johns Hopkins in fifth, with Ohio State and Penn State closing the poll in sixth and seventh places, 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.
The 2022 Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament champions, Maryland went 19-2 last season, falling to Boston College 17-16 in the national semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch List features 21 standouts from the seven schools, including 13 2022 All-Big Ten honorees and four of the five 2022 Women’s Lacrosse award winners. Returning first-team All-Big Ten honorees include Maryland’s Abby Bosco and Emily Sterling, Michigan’s Maddie Burns (Germantown Academy), Penn State’s Kristin O’Neill and Rutgers’ Cassidy Spilis (Seneca) and Meghan Ball. Bosco and Sterling were named Big Ten Defender and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively, while Spilis was named Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. Last season’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year Sammy White from Northwestern is also included in the Players to Watch List.
The 2022 Big Ten Women’s Lacrosse Tournament will begin on Saturday, April 29 with three quarterfinal round games on the campuses of the number two, three, and four seeds. The quarterfinal winners along with the top seed will advance to the semifinal round, to be played at Ohio State on Thursday, May 4, with the championship gametwo days later.
The 2023 preseason poll and complete Players to Watch list can be found below.
2023 BIG TEN WOMEN’S LACROSSE PRESEASON POLL
- Maryland
- Northwestern
- Rutgers
- Michigan
- Johns Hopkins
- Ohio State
- Penn State
2023 WOMEN’S LACROSSE PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH
Maeve Barker, Sr., Johns Hopkins
Georgie Gorelick (Academy of Notre Dame), Jr., Johns Hopkins
Annie Marshall, So., Johns Hopkins
Abby Bosco, Gr., Maryland
Emily Sterling, Sr., Maryland
Shaylan Ahearn, Sr., Maryland
Maddie Burns (Germantown Academy), Jr., Michigan
Morgan Whitaker, Gr., Michigan
Kaley Thompson, Gr., Michigan
Izzy Scane, Gr., Northwestern
Erin Coykendall, Sr., Northwestern
Sammy White, So., Northwestern
Chloe Johnson, Sr., Ohio State
Nicole Ferrara, Sr., Ohio State
Ava Keethler, Gr., Ohio State
Kristin O’Neill, Jr., Penn State
Ellie Hollin, So., Penn State
Sammy Dupcak, Jr., Penn State
Cassidy Spilis (Seneca-NJ), Sr., Rutgers
Meghan Ball, Sr., Rutgers
Marin Hartshorn, Gr., Rutgers