ASHLAND- Ohio, All nine G-MAC women’s lacrosse institutions were represented on the Great Midwest Athletic Conference all-conference teams, released Thursday afternoon.
The coaches voted student-athletes on either first or second team, in addition to individual awards. Conference tournament top-seed and the No. 4 team in the region Ashland University landed a league-high six student-athletes on either first or second team, in addition to the Goalkeeper, Attacker, and Coach of the Year. In her fifth year as head coach, Lauren Simko has led the Eagles to a perfect 8-0 conference mark and a 13-4 overall record. Rachel Crumbacher was voted the attacker of the year after ending the regular season ranked second in the league in goals and points per game. She is the driving force behind the top-ranked offensive team in the G-MAC that averaged 16.47 goals per game alongside 27 points. Crumbacher is joined by Annie Duncan, who was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season. Duncan is at the helm of a dominant Ashland defense that gives up just 7.95 goals a game and a league-high 17 shutouts. She has a goals-against average of 8.17 with 815:00 minutes in net. Duncan and Crumbacher were voted first-team all-conference in addition to Ashley Fisher, Lauren Hinders, and Tori Wanat. Ashley Drexler rounds out all-conference selections for the Eagles, while also capturing the Elite 26 Award for the second season in a row. Drexler is a junior majoring in Exercise Science.
Kendra Stevens of Findlay led the Oilers to a first-round bye and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Stevens was a top defender for Findlay, with 43 ground balls and 11 ground balls this season. Stevens is the lone first-team representative from Findlay, while teammates Rebecca Chmiel, Caroline Weber, and Brinlee Barry were voted to the second team. Findlay is set to face No. 3 Tiffin in the semifinal round.
The No. 3 seeded Dragons are led by Lauren Walsh, who averaged 2.94 goals and a league-high 3.19 assists per game. Walsh also has the highest points per game average at 6.13.
Walsh earned the No. 5 seed, while Alexa Panetta and Trinity Stowell headlined the awards list for the Cavs as the defensive player and midfielder of the year, respectively. Panetta averaged 1.80 caused turnovers and 4.53 draw controls a game during the regular season. For Stowell, the sophomore midfielder ranks fourth in the league in draw controls with 80, while leading the league with 63 goals. Panetta and Stowell led Walsh to an upset over No. 4 Malone to advance to the conference semifinals.
Mairin Ziegler of Northwood was voted as the league’s top freshman after an outstanding rookie campaign. Ziegler was the Timberwolves’ leading scorer and tied the program for goals in a game with seven earlier this season.
This year’s championship will once again be hosted at Ashland’s Jack Miller Stadium. Additional championship information can be found by visiting the championship central page.
A full list of honorees can be found
HERE.