Northwestern University Athletics
No. 1 Wildcats Place Eight on All-Big Ten Teams
4/26/2023 9:43:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The No. 1 Northwestern lacrosse team placed a conference-high eight student-athletes on the All-Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Teams, as announced by the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday.
Five Wildcats earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, leading the conference. The group is headlined by Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall who earned unanimous selections. Hailey Rhatigan, Samantha Smith and Samantha White joined Scane and Coykendall on the first team. Kendall Halpern, Molly Laliberty and Madison Taylor round out the group with Second Team All-Big Ten selections. Additionally, Maddy Balter was tabbed to the Sportsmanship Team.
Two of the best our program has ever seen ??
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) April 26, 2023
Erin Coykendall & Izzy Scane
UNANIMOUS All-Big Ten Selections pic.twitter.com/yuqfsyWyKs
Scane leads the conference and the nation with 73 goals on the season, averaging 5.21 goals per game. The Clarkston, Mich. native also has 21 assists, which is second on the team to Coykendall. She earned three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards this season and one IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week.
Coykendall leads the conference with 40 assists this season, 2.5 per game, and ranked seventh with 42 goals. She won one Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award and her first IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week honor after scoring 11 goals and finding five assists over two victories against Johns Hopkins and Stanford.
With 46 goals on the season, Rhatigan is second in scoring only to Scane. The graduate transfer currently leads the NCAA in career goals with 274 and is in the top 10 all-time in career goals in the NCAA.
Smith paces the Wildcats in the draw circle with 89 draw controls, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten. The Mill Valley, Calif. native also has 13 goals and six assists on the season.
White has been the star of the Northwestern defense and ranks sixth in the Big Ten creating 1.5 caused turnovers per game. She also has 44 draw controls, 22 ground balls, four goals and five assists.
All-Big Ten First Teamers ??
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) April 26, 2023
Hailey Rhatigan // Samantha Smith // Samantha White pic.twitter.com/smxrwF6T00
Halpern has been White's partner on defense, ranking fifth in the Big Ten posting 1.64 caused turnovers per game and sixth logging 1.93 ground balls per game.
Laliberty has anchored Northwestern back line in her first season in Evanston after transferring from Division III Tufts University. She leads the Big Ten in goals against average (9.08) and is fourth posting 7.19 saves per game. Laliberty was integral in Northwestern's final regular season game against Maryland to clinch the Big Ten regular season title outright, posting nine saves and allowing just six goals.
A first-year Taylor is eighth in the Big Ten scoring 2.56 goals per game. Through the course of the season, she won a program record eight Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards. She is the only first-year to start every game for the Wildcats. The Wantagh, N.Y. native burst onto the scene with five goals against Syracuse, the most goals scored by a 'Cat in their debut since 2007.
All-Big Ten Second Team ??
— Northwestern Lax (@NULax) April 26, 2023
Kendall Halpern // Molly Laliberty // Madison Taylor pic.twitter.com/cqTozwkJHO
By virtue of its regular season title, Northwestern received a bye to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and will play either Penn State or Michigan on May 4 in Columbus, Ohio at a time to be determined. The game will air on BTN.
