Hack and Murphy Lead Eight All-SCIAC Honors for Athenas
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. – The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) announced the Women's Lacrosse All-Conference team on Friday afternoon. Among the student-athletes named were eight Athenas, including the SCIAC Offensive and Defensive Athletes of the Year. Corie Hack (CMC) was named the conference's Offensive Athlete of the Year and Evan Murphy (CMC) was tabbed as the Defensive Athlete of the Year. In addition to the eight athletes named All-SCIAC, head coach Lauren Uhr was honored as the SCIAC Coach of the Year.
Hack and Murphy led six Athenas on the First Team, the most of any team in the conference. Joining Hack and Murphy on the First Team was Sally Abel (CMC), Kira Weiss (CMC), Katie Hill (CMC), and Allie Hill (CMC). In addition to the six Athenas on the First Team, Emily Cohen (CMC) and Anna Gillespie (SC) earned Second Team accolades.
The Athenas' offense has been dominate this season, averaging 16.12 goals per game. While Corie Hack led the Athenas with 51 goals this season, it has been a team effort on the offensive end with First Team honorees, Evan Murphy (34 goals) and Sally Abel (43 goals), also scoring at least 30 goals on the year. Hack earns the Offensive Athelete of the Year honor after scoring the third most goals in the SCIAC this season and accumulating the fifth most points in the conference. Hack scored in every game this season, including 14 multi-goal games. She ended the regular season with four-straight games with at least three goals, but turned in her best game of the season against Rhodes on Mar. 7, scoring a career-high seven goals to lead the Athenas to a 20-8 victory.
Murphy's Defensive Athlete of the Year honor shows the senior's versatility. Murphy led the Athenas in points this season with 68 (34 goals and 34 assists), but earns the Defensive Athlete of the Year honor thanks to her complete profile on the field. Murphy also led the Athenas in ground balls (78), draw controls (52), and caused turnovers (66) during the regular season. Her 78 ground balls and 66 caused turnovers were also tops in the SCIAC this season.
In addition to picking up the Offensive and Defensive Athlete of the Year awards, the Athenas made a strong case for sweeping the major individual awards thanks to the play from freshman Sally Abel. While Abel did not earn Newcomer of the Year, the freshman was a key cog in the CMS offense all season long. She scored 43 goals, the most among freshman in the SCIAC, and tallied a total of 48 points on the season en route to First Team honors.
Midfielder Allie Hill earned First Team accolades as well after doing a little bit of everything for the Athenas this season. Hill scored 44 points this season with 22 goals and 22 assists, but also picked up 24 ground balls and earned 50 draw controls for the Athenas.
Emily Cohen picked up her second-straight All-SCIAC honor with a Second Team nod this season. Cohen collected 26 points with 15 goals and 11 assists this season and was effective on the draw, earning 37 draw controls and accumulating 26 ground balls.
In addition to the gaudy offensive numbers from the Athenas this season, the stout CMS defense was well represented on the All-SCIAC team this season. Kira Weiss (First Team), Katie Hill (First Team), and Anna Gillespie (Second Team) were honored from an Athenas' defensive unit that allowed just 6.24 goals per game during the regular season. The defense was even better in conference, allowing only 5.50 goals per game.
Weiss and Katie Hill finished third and fourth on the team in total ground balls with 42 and 40, respectively. Weiss also caused 36 turnovers, second most on the team this season.
Between the pipes, Gillespie holds a perfect 11-0 record after splitting time in goal to start the season. The freshman allowed 5.75 goals per game over 615 minutes this season. She made 58 saves and holds a 49.6 save percentage on the season.
Head coach Lauren Uhr earns her second-straight SCIAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Athenas to a 16-1 record in the regular season and a 10-0 record in conference play to earn the fourth regular season SCIAC Championship in program history.
The Athenas hold the top seed in the SCIAC Tournament that begins on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. on Zinda Field when CMS hosts the fourth-seeded Chapman Panthers in the SCIAC Semifinals. The SCIAC Championships will be played on Saturday, May 5 at the highest remaining seed.