Five Terps Earn Top Big Ten Honors
ROSEMONT, Ill. – After posting a 19-0 record and earning the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, five Terps earned 2016 Big Ten individual honors, as voted on by the league’s six coaches and announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
Seniors Taylor Cummings and Alice Mercer were unanimously selected as the Big Ten Midfielder and Defender of the Year, respectively. Sophomore Megan Whittle was named the Big Ten Attack Player of the Year and freshman Megan Taylor was chosen as the Goaltender of the Year. All four players were named to the All-Big Ten team last month, and Cummings, Mercer and Whittle are Tewaaraton nominees. Cummings, Mercer and Taylor were named to the Big Ten all-tournament team.
Head coach Cathy Reese was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. This is the eighth time in Reese’s career she’s been named conference coach of the year.
Cummings leads the Terps in points (67), ground balls (57), draw controls (127) and caused turnovers (43) and ranks second in goals (50) and assists (17). The Ellicott City, Md., native earned three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and three Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. Cummings ranks 11th nationally in caused turnovers per game (2.26), 12th in ground balls per game (3.00) and fourth in draw controls per game (6.53). The senior midfielder has been named to all-conference teams in each of her four seasons. She was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year last season.
Mercer leads Maryland’s defense, which ranks sixth nationally with just 6.84 goals allowed per game and returned just two starters from last season. The Woodbine, Md., native has 28 ground balls, 16 draw controls and 22 caused turnovers this season. Also a member of the U.S. National Team with Cummings, Mercer was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week once this year.
For the second straight season, Whittle leads the Terps in goals (61), pacing Maryland’s top-ranked offense (15.32 goals/game). She also ranks second on the team with 64 points. Whittle ranks seventh nationally in goals and 11th in goals per game (3.21). The Glenwood, Md., native scored her 100th career goal earlier this season and is averaging 3.21 goals per game in her career.
Taylor stepped in as a freshman to start in goal for the Terrapins, backlining the sixth-ranked defense. The Glenelg, Md., native leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally with a 6.41 goals-against average. She also leads the conference with a .474 save percentage. Taylor was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week once, Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice and National Rookie of the Week once.
This is the second-straight year Maryland has won the Big Ten Attack Player, Midfielder and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Last season, Brooke Griffin and Megan Douty earned the top offensive and defensive awards.
Penn State’s Madison Carter was named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year.
The Terps will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament this weekend. Maryland will face the winner of the Virginia-Johns Hopkins first round game on Sunday at noon at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
Seniors Taylor Cummings and Alice Mercer were unanimously selected as the Big Ten Midfielder and Defender of the Year, respectively. Sophomore Megan Whittle was named the Big Ten Attack Player of the Year and freshman Megan Taylor was chosen as the Goaltender of the Year. All four players were named to the All-Big Ten team last month, and Cummings, Mercer and Whittle are Tewaaraton nominees. Cummings, Mercer and Taylor were named to the Big Ten all-tournament team.
Head coach Cathy Reese was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. This is the eighth time in Reese’s career she’s been named conference coach of the year.
Cummings leads the Terps in points (67), ground balls (57), draw controls (127) and caused turnovers (43) and ranks second in goals (50) and assists (17). The Ellicott City, Md., native earned three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and three Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. Cummings ranks 11th nationally in caused turnovers per game (2.26), 12th in ground balls per game (3.00) and fourth in draw controls per game (6.53). The senior midfielder has been named to all-conference teams in each of her four seasons. She was named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year last season.
Mercer leads Maryland’s defense, which ranks sixth nationally with just 6.84 goals allowed per game and returned just two starters from last season. The Woodbine, Md., native has 28 ground balls, 16 draw controls and 22 caused turnovers this season. Also a member of the U.S. National Team with Cummings, Mercer was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week once this year.
For the second straight season, Whittle leads the Terps in goals (61), pacing Maryland’s top-ranked offense (15.32 goals/game). She also ranks second on the team with 64 points. Whittle ranks seventh nationally in goals and 11th in goals per game (3.21). The Glenwood, Md., native scored her 100th career goal earlier this season and is averaging 3.21 goals per game in her career.
Taylor stepped in as a freshman to start in goal for the Terrapins, backlining the sixth-ranked defense. The Glenelg, Md., native leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth nationally with a 6.41 goals-against average. She also leads the conference with a .474 save percentage. Taylor was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week once, Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice and National Rookie of the Week once.
This is the second-straight year Maryland has won the Big Ten Attack Player, Midfielder and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Last season, Brooke Griffin and Megan Douty earned the top offensive and defensive awards.
Penn State’s Madison Carter was named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year.
The Terps will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament this weekend. Maryland will face the winner of the Virginia-Johns Hopkins first round game on Sunday at noon at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
– Maryland –
