PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Florida and Cincinnati earned multiple major awards apiece as the American Athletic Conference announced its 2019 women’s lacrosse regular-season honors on Wednesday.
Gators Lindsey Ronbeck and Cara Trombetta were both unanimous selections as the Attack Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, while Shannon Kavanagh was named Midfielder of the Year and Haley Hicklen Goalkeeper of the Year. Cincinnati’s Kylie Nause was selected as the Freshman of the Year, and the Bearcats’ staff was voted by their peers as the Coaching Staff of the Year. All awards were voted upon by the league’s six head coaches.
All six teams were represented on the 2019 All-Conference Teams, with Temple’s eight selections leading the way. Cincinnati, Florida and Vanderbilt all placed seven on the lists, with all seven of the Gators’ honorees on the first team. UConn received three nods, and ECU one.
Ronbeck earns Attack Player of the Year honors after leading The American in scoring on her senior season. With 76 goals so far (4.47 goals per game), she ranks third nationally in total goals and second in goals per game. Ronbeck owns three games with eight-plus goals on the season, most recently setting the Gators’ program record with nine against Cincinnati last Saturday. A five-time conference Attacker of the Week, the senior has recorded hat tricks in 13 of 17 games this season, and is Florida’s second all-time leading scorer. Ronbeck enters the postseason as The American’s lone representative on the Tewaaraton Award Top 25 list and sits just four points away from 300 on her career.
After garnering Co-Freshman of the Year honors in the Big East last year, Kavanagh has posted an explosive season in the midfield. She ranks third in The American with 54 goals, third with 73 points, fourth with 19 assists and third with 81 draw controls entering the postseason. Kavanagh was named Midfielder of the Week seven times on the season, picking up the honor five-straight weeks from March 12 to April 9. Just a sophomore, Kavanagh is the 16
th Gator to reach the 100-career point mark and just the sixth to do so in her second year.
Trombetta earns the first major award of her career after leading a Florida defense that permitted an average of just 7.6 goals per game in league competition. The junior leads the Gators and ranks second in The American with 31 caused turnovers and owns 34 ground balls on the year, the highest total of amongst Florida field players. A three-time Defensive Player of the Week this season, Trombetta tied the Gators’ single-game record with six caused turnovers against ECU and hit 100 on her career last Saturday against Cincinnati.
Hicklen collects her third-consecutive conference Goalkeeper of the Year honor after earning the award in the Big East the past two seasons. To date, she owns the decision in every Florida game on the season at 11-6, with a goals against average of 10.72, a 0.468 save percentage and a team-best 45 ground balls. On March 27, Hicklen was selected as the IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week after posting a season-high 15 saves in the Gators’ 11-10 win at No. 17 Stony Brook.
Nause is Cincinnati’s first-ever conference major awardee. With 36 goals and 40 total points, she is the top freshman scorer in the conference, and the 10
th-highest scoring freshman nationally. She has posted nine hat tricks, leading in part to five Freshman of the Week nods on the season. Collectively, Nause has been an all-around threat for the Bearcats, starting 10 games and recording 21 ground balls, 13 draw controls and 14 caused turnovers.
Cincinnati’s coaching staff, led by head coach Gina Thomas in her seventh season, was selected as the Coaching Staff of the Year following the best season in program history. So far, the Bearcats have set the program record for overall wins at 11-6 and conference wins at 4-1, including the program’s longest winning streak (eight-straight), and have qualified for the program’s first postseason tournament. The records have also come by way of statistics, with Thomas’s squad setting new standards for goals (241), assists (100), points (341), draw controls (244) and caused turnovers (211). Cincinnati also enters the American Championship as the nation’s leader in ground balls per game (28.88).
The 2019 American Women’s Lacrosse Championship kicks off Thursday, with Florida, Cincinnati, Temple and Vanderbilt squaring off in the four-team tournament. All three games will be available live on the American Digital Network (
facebook.com/AmericanDigitalNetworkPlus). Live coverage will be available throughout the championship at TheAmerican.org/WLax and on the conference’s social media platforms: @American_WLax on Twitter and American_Conf on Facebook.
2019 American Athletic Conference
Women’s Lacrosse Regular-Season Awards
Attack Player of the Year
Lindsey Ronbeck, Florida*
Midfielder of the Year
Shannon Kavanagh, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year
Cara Trombetta, Florida*
Goalkeeper of the Year
Haley Hicklen, Florida
Freshman of the Year
Kylie Nause, Cincinnati
Coaching Staff of the Year
Cincinnati
First Team All-Conference
A: Monica Borzillo, Cincinnati*
A: Kylie Nause, Cincinnati
A: Grace Haus, Florida
A: Lindsey Ronbeck, Florida*
A: Maddie Gebert, Temple*
A: Gabby Fornia, Vanderbilt
M: Sam Mlkvy, Cincinnati
M: Sydney Watson, UConn*
M: Shannon Kavanagh, Florida*
M: Sydney Pirreca, Florida*
M: Bridget Whitaker, Temple
M: Julie Blaze, Vanderbilt*
D: Morgan Dukes, Cincinnati
D: Cara Trombetta, Florida*
D: Sabrina Cristodero, Florida
D: Kara Nakrasius, Temple
GK: Haley Hicklen, Florida
Second Team All-Conference
A: Olivia Miles, UConn
A: Lia LaPrise, UConn
A: Ally Stanton, ECU
A: Olivia Thompson, Temple
A: Sophie Furlong, Vanderbilt
A: Emily Mathewson, Vanderbilt
M: Amanda Donovan, Cincinnati
M: Amber Lambeth, Temple
M: Jen Rodzewich, Temple
M: Melanie Becker, Vanderbilt
D: Adrianna Fess, Cincinnati
D: Courtney Taylor, Temple
D: Melissa Hawkins, Vanderbilt
D: Halle Regan, Vanderbilt
GK: Giuliana Durso, Cincinnati
GK: Maryn Lowell, Temple
*denotes unanimous selection