NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Massachusetts senior Fiona McGowan along with Richmond senior Arden Tierney earned distinction as the Atlantic 10 Women’s Lacrosse Co-Offensive Players of the Year while Saint Joseph’s freshman Alexa Capozzoli secured the Rookie of the Year recognition. UMass graduate student Amy Moreau along with senior teammate Audra Tosone registered the league’s Midfielder and Defensive Player of the Year awards, respectively, while first-year head coaches Jana Drummond of Massachusetts and LeighAnn Stauffer of St. Bonaventure locked down Co-Coach of the Year honors.
The Atlantic 10 released the five superlative awards along with the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams Wednesday prior to the 2023 A-10 Women’s Lacrosse Championship, which begins Thursday at Cary Street Field in Richmond, Va. The major honors, All-Conference teams and All-Rookie team were voted on by the A-10 women’s lacrosse head coaches while the All-Academic team was selected by the women’s lacrosse communications directors.
McGowan, a native of Westwood, Mass., closed out the season leading the Atlantic 10 in both assists and points, notably ranking sixth nationally in assists per game (2.62) and ninth in total assists (42) while slotting in at 10th nationally in points per game (4.94) and 12th in total points (79). The senior attacker wrapped up the regular season on a high note, generating 10 points off four goals and six assists in a decisive victory over George Mason, the most points by an A-10 player in a single game since Feb. of 2021. She recorded three or more goals in seven matches this year, and finished with 12 multi-assist performances, pacing UMass to the sixth-best scoring offense (17.75) within Division I and fifth in terms of assists per game (9.22).
Tierney acted as the offensive leader and team captain throughout a banner year for Richmond, leading the Spiders to a 14-3 overall mark and 8-1 record in A-10 play, not to mention a top-10 road victory over Virginia. The senior attacker out of Port Washington, N.Y., ranked as both the assists (39) and points (78) leader for UR on the season, good for second league-wide in points per game (4.59) and assists per game (2.29) as well as first in overall draw controls (154) and draw controls per game (9.06). Nationally, she currently sits tied for first in draw controls per game while also ranking 12th for points, 15th for assists and 20th for assists per game. Finally, Tierney has even managed to hit three major milestones throughout the 2023 campaign, as she surpassed 200 career points, broke the single-season program record for draw controls and claimed the top spot for career draw controls in Richmond history.
A product of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Moreau served as a dual threat in the UMass center, concluding the season with a team-third best 14 assists while also slotting in at fourth in both points (46) and goals (32). The graduate student midfielder also acts as one of the Minutewomen’s primary draw controllers, winning a squad-second best 51 for the year. She also managed to scoop 32 ground balls and force 24 turnovers, notably posting multiple goals in 10 contests with a pair of key performances against both Richmond (four) and Saint Joseph’s (five).
Hailing from Walpole, Mass., Tosone started all 16 matches for Massachusetts this season, anchoring one of the top defensive back lines in the country behind her eighth-best nationally ranking in caused turnovers per game (2.38) and No. 13 position in ground balls per game (3.00). The senior defender irritated opposing offenses throughout the season, causing 39 turnovers – good for third-most in a single season at UMass – and moving herself up to fifth in the school’s all-time record book for the category with 75. A four-time A-10 Defensive Player of the Week, Tosone played a monumental role in leading the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense (7.69) and second-best scoring margin (8.44).
A freshman attacker out of Ridley Park, Pa., Capozzoli took over one of the leading offensive roles for Saint Joseph’s as the season progressed, morphing into a dynamic threat for the defending champion Hawks. A three-time Rookie of the Week, which ranks second most in program history behind Stephanie Kelly (2018), Capozzoli ended the regular season on a six-game goal streak. She tallied seven multi-goal games on the season, including four hat tricks, and logged three games with multiple assists with a season-high four coming against VCU in the finale.
Drummond, a first-year head coach and six-season veteran at Massachusetts, guided the Minutewomen to yet-another successful season on the pitch, earning the program’s 11th consecutive Atlantic 10 regular-season title behind a perfect 9-0 record in league play. UMass concluded the year boasting a 14-match win streak, and enters the A-10 Championship ranked No. 13 in IWLCA and No. 12 in USA Lacrosse Magazine, not to mention 18th in the latest NCAA RPI. The Minutewomen slot in as third nationally in overall winning percentage (.938), closing out the year a clean 15-1 with the lone loss coming to then-No. 3 Boston College in the team’s road opener. Nationally, Drummond has guided Massachusetts to multiple high rankings across a variety of key metrics, including second in scoring margin (8.44), fourth in points per game (24.50), sixth in scoring offense (16.12), second in ground balls per game (20.56) and fifth in assists per game (8.38).
A 2017 graduate of St. Bonaventure, Stauffer returned to her alma mater early this past summer as a first-year head coach at the Division I level, taking over a program that secured just a single win a season ago. Under her leadership, the Bonnies clinched their first A-10 Championship appearance since 2007, wrapping up the year at 6-11 overall and 4-5 in conference competition. Notably, Stauffer completely upended expectations after Bona earned 10th in the league’s annual preseason poll, winning multiple tight contests – vs. Akron (12-10), at VCU (15-13), at Duquesne (16-15) and vs. La Salle (11-10) – while narrowly dropping some tough matchups against many of the top squads within the A-10 – vs. Davidson (10-11) and at Saint Joseph’s (11-13).
Joining McGowan, Moreau and Tosone on the All-Conference First Team are fellow Massachusetts teammates Jordan Dean (midfielder) and Hannah Heller (defender) while Tierney is flanked by Richmond teammates Lindsey Frank (attacker), Sophia DiCenso (midfielder) and Maggie O’Brien (defender). Davidson’s Allie Hartnett (midfielder) along with Saint Joseph’s Bonnie Yu (midfielder) and Jorden Concordia (goalkeeper) rounded out the squad.
The All-Conference Second Team features Davidson’s Julianne Carey (attacker) and Margaret Anne Warner (defender), Duquesne’s Mackenzie Leszczynski (midfielder), George Washington’s Stella Ray (defender), UMass’ Alex Finn (attacker), Gina Carroll (goalkeeper) and Catrina Tobin (goalkeeper), Richmond’s Colleen Quinn (attacker), Hannah Custer (defender) and Jax Donohue (defender), Saint Joseph’s Riley Evans (midfielder) and VCU’s Juliana George (attacker) and Kelsey McDonnell (midfielder).
The All-Rookie team stars Capozzoli, Hartnett, Ray and Tobin along with Duquesne’s Chelsea Evans, Massachusetts’ Kassidy Morris, Richmond’s Jordyn Harrison and Juliana Stanley, St. Bonaventure’s Brit Colangelo and Jessica Notaro and Saint Joseph’s Kate Fuhrman and Sarah Groark.
The All-Academic team includes Moreau, Finn, Tosone, Tierney, Evans and McDonnell as well as Davidson’s Grace Fahey, Duquesne’s Hanna Pawela, George Mason’s Meghan Deehan, George Washington’s Whitney Moran, UMass’ Layton Nass and Saint Joseph’s Quinn Howe.
The 2023 Atlantic 10 Women’s Lacrosse Championship launches with first round contests Thursday between No. 4 Davidson and No. 5 George Washington at noon ET and No. 3 Saint Joseph’s and sixth-seeded St. Bonaventure in the second quarterfinal at 3 p.m. ET. The semifinals start Friday at noon ET with top-seeded Massachusetts hosting the winner between Davidson/George Washington before No. 2 Richmond squares off against the victor of the Saint Joseph’s/St. Bonaventure match.
All five contests of the A-10 Women’s Lacrosse Championship will be streamed live via ESPN+.