WomensLax.com Honors O'Leary, Meagher; Names Four Gators All-Americans
Friday, May 25, 2012 | Lacrosse
WomensLax.com, one of three national organizations that names women's lacrosse All-Americans, honored five Gators this afternoon in this year's postseason awards. The organization named Head Coach Amanda O'Leary the National Coach of the Year, while selecting Mikey Meagher (Liverpool, N.Y.) as the Goalie of the Year. Additionally, Meagher, Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.), Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) and Shannon Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.) were all named WomensLax.com All-Americans.
Coach O'Leary, the 2011 American Lacrosse Conference and IWLCA South Region Coach of the Year, earns her first career National Coach of the Year honor. The Florida head coach led the Gators to yet another record-breaking season in 2012, earning the ALC regular-season and Tournament titles and leading Florida to become the youngest program in NCAA history to earn the No. 1 overall seed and to advance twice in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators will face Syracuse this evening in their first-ever NCAA Semifinals appearance at Stony Brook University.
Mikey Meagher earns her first career All-America selection after having an outstanding season in the cage for the Gators. The Liverpool, N.Y., native is the only goalie in the nation to have a save percentage above .502, sitting at .539, and the lone keeper with a GAA below seven, averaging just 6.66 goals per game. Meagher has made 130 saves and allowed just 111 goals in 999:33 minutes of play, earning a 16-2 record in 20 appearances. A First Team All-South Region selection and a member of the All-ALC Second Team, Meagher was named the Most Valuable Player of the ALC Tournament after making 16 saves and allowing just 11 goals in her two tournament starts.
Kitty Cullen, the first Gator to earn back-to-back All-America selections, leads the Gators in scoring on the year, recording 45 goals and 23 assists for a total of 68 points. Despite drawing her opponents' top defenders and facing double and triple team defenses all season long, Cullen continued to be a prolific attacker, sitting in second on the team in both goals and assists. A two-time First Team All-South Region selection, First Team All-ALC selection and Tewaaraton Award nominee, Cullen ranks 34th in the nation in points and 42nd in goals.
Brittany Dashiell picks up her first career All-America nod after having a breakout season in the midfield. The Bel Air, Md., native has been spectacular on both ends of the field, sitting among the team's leaders in every statistical category. One of five finalists for the prestigious Tewaaraton Award, Dashiell leads the team in assists (25), is third in points (61), fourth in goals (40), fourth in ground balls (31), third in draw controls (43) and tied for second with 17 caused turnovers. A member of the IWLCA All-South Region First Team, the All-ALC First Team and the ALC All-Tournament team, Dashiell ranks 43rd in the NCAA in assists.
Shannon Gilroy is one of just three freshmen to be named to the WomensLax.com All-America team. The Northport, N.Y., native has had tremendous success in her first season, emerging as a true draw specialist and leading the Gators to rank fifth in the nation in draw controls, averaging 15.24 per game. With Gilroy in the center circle, the Gators have out-drawn their opponents 320-175, including 43-11 over the past three games. Individually, the rookie middie ranks 25th in the nation in draw controls, totaling 77 on the year, and is also tied for seventh among freshmen with 39 goals on the year.
WomensLax.com bestowed seven total individual honors this afternoon. In addition to Meagher and O'Leary, five other student-athletes earned postseason awards. All seven honorees participated in the NCAA Quarterfinals, five will participate in this weekend's NCAA Semifinals, four are members of ALC teams, and three are Tewaaraton Award Finalists.
Northwestern's Taylor Thornton, the ALC Player of the Year, was named WomensLax.com Player of the Year. Senior Michelle Tumolo of Syracuse was named Attacker of the Year, while Maryland's Katie Schwarzmann is the Midfielder of the Year. Kellye Gallagher of Loyola was selected as the Defender of the Year, and Penn State midfielder Tatum Coffey was chosen as the Rookie of the Year.
In addition to the individual honors, 27 student-athletes from 13 different universities were named to the WomensLax.com All-America Team. Florida and Maryland lead all other teams with four honorees each, while Northwestern, North Carolina and Syracuse each have three selected players. The team consists of three freshmen, three sophomores, 10 juniors, 10 seniors and a graduate student. Position-wise, there are 12 attackers, nine midfielders, four defenders and just two goalkeepers, both members of the American Lacrosse Conference. The ALC leads all conferences with 10 All-Americans, followed closely by the ACC with nine. The BIG EAST had five selections, the America East picked up two, and Dartmouth's Sarah Plumb was the lone representative of the Ivy League.
2012 WomensLax.com Individual Honors
Player of the Year: Taylor Thornton, Northwestern
Attacker of the Year: Michelle Tumolo, Syracuse
Midfielder of the Year: Katie Schwarzmann, Maryland
Defender of the Year: Kellye Gallagher, Loyola
Goalie of the Year: Mikey Meagher, Florida
Rookie of the Year: Tatum Coffey, Penn State
Coach of the Year: Amanda O'Leary, Florida
2012 WomensLax.com All-America Team
Alex Aust, Maryland, Jr., Attack
Dana Cahill, Penn State, Sr., Goalie
Kara Cannizzaro, North Carolina, Jr., Midfield
Tatum Coffey, Penn State, Fr., Midfield
Kitty Cullen, Florida, Jr., Attack
Brittany Dashiell, Florida, Jr., Midfield
Katie Ferris, Massachusetts, So., Attack
Alex Frank, Northwestern, Sr., Defense
Kellye Gallagher, Loyola, Sr., Defense
Shannon Gilroy, Florida, Fr., Midfield
Emma Hamm, Duke, Sr., Attack
Kristin Igoe, Boston College, Gr., Midfield
Karri Ellen Johnson, Maryland, Sr., Attack
Kailah Kempney, Syracuse, Fr., Attack
Becky Lynch, North Carolina, Sr., Attack
Alayna Markwordt, Ohio State, Sr., Attack
Mikey Meagher, Florida, Jr., Goalie
Alyssa Murray, Syracuse, So., Attack
Marlee Paton, Loyola, So., Midfield
Claire Petersen, Stony Brook, Jr., Attack
Sarah Plumb, Dartmouth, Sr., Midfield
Iliana Sanza, Maryland, Jr., Defense
Katie Schwarzmann, Maryland, Jr., Midfield
Shannon Smith, Northwestern, Sr., Attack
Taylor Thornton, Northwestern, Jr., Defense
Michelle Tumolo, Syracuse, Jr., Attack
Laura Zimmerman, North Carolina, Sr., Midfield
