COLLEGE PARK, MD – Shaylan Ahearn and
Emily Sterling of the Maryland women's lacrosse team were selected as Big Ten Players of the Year for their respective positions, the conference announced Monday.
Ahearn was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and Sterling was named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, for the second year in a row.
Ahearn has been one of the most dominant draw specialists in all of lacrosse this season, leading the Big Ten and standing 10th in the nation with 131 draw controls, currently standing fifth all-time in program history for single season draw controls. The First Team All-Big Ten selection has 313 career draw controls, the fourth-most in program history and the sixth-most of any active player The senior captain has tallied at least eight draws in eight different games and has helped Maryland win 61.9-percent of all draw controls, the fifth-best mark in the country and best in the Big Ten. Ahearn also has 20 goals, 15 assists, 13 groundballs and eight caused turnovers. She was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Week five times, the most in the conference.
Ahearn becomes the first Maryland Big Ten Midfielder of the Year since Jen Giles took home the honors in 2019 and the fifth overall. Taylor Cummings won the award in 2015-16 and Zoe Stukenberg earned the honors in 2017.
Sterling has been tremendous in goal for the Terps this season, posting a .482 save percentage, 172 saves and a 9.50 goals against average. The senior captain has had over a 50-percent save percentage in 10 of 20 games and has had double digit saves in six different games including 15 against Georgetown and Princeton, 13 against Northwestern and 12 against Michigan. The reigning Big Ten Goalie of the Year has helped keep 12 opponents to single digit goals this season. Sterling has been named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week twice and the IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week once.
This is the second year in a row Sterling has been named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, the first Terp to do so since Megan Taylor won the award four years in a row from 2016-19.
Northwestern won Attacker of the Year (Izzy Scane), Freshman of the Year (Madison Taylor) and Coach of the Year (Kelly Amonte Hiller). Rutgers' Meghan Ball was named the Defender of the Year.
The Terps will travel to Harrisonburg, VA for the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Maryland will play Drexel in the First Round on Friday, May 12 at 5:00 p.m.
