 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
|
 |
     |
|
|
Hannah Nielsen Named 2008 American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Year
May 1, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) has been named the 2008 American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Year in a vote taken by the conference's head coaches. Ohio State's Maghan Beaudrault was named Rookie of the Year, while Vanderbilt's Brooke Shinaberry took home Goalkeeper of the Year and Cathy Swezey was named Coach of the Year. Nielsen leads the second-ranked Wildcats in points (76) and assists (43) and is third in goals (33). She ranks second in the conference in points per game (4.75) and assists per game (2.69), while ranking eighth and fourth in the nation in those respective categories. The junior currently sits fifth on the NU all-time points list (218) and is second on the all-time assists list at 121, just seven behind leader Lindsey Munday. Nielsen is the fourth-straight Wildcat to capture Player of the Year honors, as Kristen Kjellman won the award three-straight years (2005-2007), and has twice been named the ALC Player of the Week this season. In addition, Nielsen was one of three 'Cats named to the all-conference first team, joined by junior Hilary Bowen (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and senior Christy Finch (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson). Bowen leads the Wildcats in goals (57) and became the eighth member of the Wildcat 200-point club with 140 goals and 62 assists. Finch ranks second in the nation in caused turnovers per game (3.31) and is fifth in the NCAA record books with 166 caused turnovers for her career.
Juniors Meredith Frank (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) and Morgan Lathrop (Briarcliff, N.Y./The Hackley School) and sophomore Danielle Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) received second team honors, as NU ties Vanderbilt with six players selected to the all-conference teams. Frank has recorded 24 goals and six assists despite missing time due to an injury, while Lathrop ranks second in the nation in goals against average (6.83). Spencer is one goal away from 50 for the season and is third on the team in points (55).
Northwestern will host the 2008 American Lacrosse Conference Championship at Lakeside Field May 2-4. Fourth-seeded Ohio State will meet fifth-seeded Penn State at 1 p.m. Friday, May 2, with the winner of that game to face the top-seeded Wildcats at 12 p.m. Saturday, May 3. Second-seeded Vanderbilt will then face third-seeded Johns Hopkins at 2 p.m., with the championship game set for 12 p.m. Sunday, May 4. Free live video and live stats will be available for all ALC Championship games, and can be found on the ALC Championship page. 2008 ALC All-Conference Teams
First Team
Second Team
Player of the Year: Hannah Nielsen - Northwestern
|
||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||
