Five Northwestern players earned spots on this year’s All-American teams, USA Lacrosse announced Thursday.
Junior attacker Madison Taylor and senior defender Sammy White received First Team All-American honors, while graduate student defender Jane Hansen was listed on the Second Team. Senior midfielder Sam Smith earned a Third Team nod and graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer took home an honorable mention.
The No. 2 ranked Wildcats tied for having the second-most All-Americans with five, trailing just No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Boston College, which notched eight each.
Taylor has recorded a nationwide-best 125 points, including 89 goals, the second most in the country. She sits 14 goals away from setting the national single-season goal record, set by High Point’s Abby Hormes in 2022. Taylore has registered a hat trick in 16 of her 18 games this season and has notched at least three assists in seven matchups.
Taylor was also announced as a Tewaaraton finalist, the award given to the most outstanding player in college lacrosse, Thursday. She has led NU to be the seventh-best scoring offense in the country, tallying 16.11 goals per game.
White leads NU in ground balls and has the second-most caused turnovers on the team. She was awarded Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in February and tied her career high in caused turnovers against Rutgers last month.
Hansen leads the team in caused turnovers and has picked up the second-most ground balls. Her five caused turnovers earned her the Big Ten All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player award after NU won the Big Ten Tournament on April 27.
The All-American defensive tandem has led the ’Cats to be the third-best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 8.22 goals per game.
Smith is 12th in the nation in draw controls per game with 9.00, which leads the ’Cats. Behind Smith’s efforts, NU ranks fourth in the country in draw controls. The senior also tied her career high for goals in a season this year with 18.
Sweitzer, who stepped into the starting goalkeeper role early in the season after transferring from Syracuse, sits at 11th in the country in save percentage with a .490 clip. She notched a season-high 12 saves against Penn State on March 16th.
The ’Cats, the No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, will take on the winner of Akron and Michigan at Martin Stadium in the tournament’s second round Sunday.
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