IRVING, Texas -- Florida’s women's lacrosse team, which went undefeated in American Athletic Conference play and closed the regular season with a 15-game winning streak, captured three major individual awards and had a league-leading nine players named to The American's 2024 all-conference teams as voted by the league’s seven head coaches.
Florida’s Maggi Hall was chosen as The American’s Attack Player of the Year, while Elyse Finnelle was named as Goalkeeper of the Year. The Gators’ coaching staff of head coach Amanda O’Leary and assistant coaches Regy Thorpe, Nicole Levy and Christina Esposito was chosen as the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
Temple’s Belle Mastropietro was named as The American’s Midfielder of the Year for the third consecutive season, while the Owls’ Katie Shallow was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year.
James Madison defender Ava Bleckley was the unanimous choice of the coaches as Freshman of the Year.
Hall becomes the fourth Florida player to be named as Attack Player of the Year, joining Lindsey Ronbeck (2019), Grace Haus (2021) and Danielle Pavinelli (2022). Hall finished the regular season as The American’s scoring leader with 85 points in 17 games, averaging 5.0 goals per game. She has 40 goals and 45 assists in 2024 and became just the third player in American Athletic Conference history to register a 40-40 season.
Finnelle extended Florida’s monopoly on The American’s Goalkeeper of the Year award as the Gators took home the honor for the fifth consecutive season. After playing as part of a two-player rotation in goal for much of the season, Finnelle took over as the Gators’ starter in early April and responded by leading The American with a .549 save percentage and an 8.43 goals-against average. Finnelle was more impressive in conference play as she registered a .637 save percentage and a 5.88 GAA in league games.
Mastropietro took home Midfielder of the Year honors for the third straight season after she finished as The American’s top-scoring midfielder. Mastropietro ranked third in The American at 4.1 points per game on 39 goals and 23 assist for 62 points and was fourth in the conference in draw controls (3.7 per game).
Shallow becomes Temple’s first American Defensive Player of the Year after she finished the regular season ranked second in NCAA Division I in caused turnovers (3.7 per game) and was fourth nationally in ground balls (3.7 per game). Shallow leads a Temple defense that ranks second in The American in goals allowed (9.5 per game).
Bleckley is the first James Madison player to be named as The American’s Freshman of the Year. Bleckley leads the Dukes with 31 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers after starting all 16 regular-season games in her rookie year. She was an ILWomen honorable mention midseason All-America pick and was a unanimous choice of The American’s coaches to the all-conference first team.
Florida’s coaching staff was named as The American’s top staff for the third time in the last four seasons. The Gators bring a 15-game winning streak into the American Athletic Conference Championship and enter the postseason with the nation’s most prolific offense (18.3 goals per game) and fourth-leading defense (8.1 goals allowed per game). Florida also leads all Division I teams in scoring margin (10.2), points (27.7 per game), shooting percentage (.550) and clearing percentage (.953).
Florida’s nine all-conference selections were the most among American Athletic Conference teams, while James Madison had eight selections. Eight players were unanimous choices of the head coaches to the first team as Hall, Mastropietro, Shallow and Bleckley joined Florida attack Danielle Pavinelli, Gators midfielder Emily Heller and James Madison attacks Isabella Peterson and Maddie Epke on every ballot. Mastropietro, Pavinelli and East Carolina attack Caroline Kimel become the first four-time all-conference picks in American Athletic Conference history, while Mastropietro is the first four-time first-team selection.
2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S LACROSSE AWARDS
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ATTACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maggi Hall, Florida
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MIDFIELDERS OF THE YEAR
Belle Mastropietro, Temple
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Katie Shallow, Temple
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Elyse Finnelle, Florida
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ava Bleckley, D, James Madison *
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Florida
(Head Coach Amanda O’Leary, Assistant Coach Regy Thorpe, Assistant Coach Nicole Levy, Assistant Coach Christina Esposito
| ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM |
| Pos. |
Player |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
| A |
Camryn Callaghan 1 |
Cincinnati |
So. |
Upper Arlington, Ohio |
| A |
Caroline Kimel 2 2 1 |
East Carolina |
Gr. |
Durham, N.C. |
| A |
Maggi Hall * 2 1 |
Florida |
Sr. |
Bel Air, Md. |
| A |
Danielle Pavinelli * 2 1 1 |
Florida |
Sr, |
Northport, N.Y. |
| A |
Maddie Epke * 2 |
James Madison |
So. |
Guilford, Conn. |
| A |
Katelyn Morgan 2 |
James Madison |
Sr. |
Marietta, Ga. |
| A |
Isabella Peterson * 1 |
James Madison |
Sr. |
Sparks, Md. |
| M |
Emily Heller * 1 1 |
Florida |
Gr. |
Babylon, N.Y. |
| M |
Madison Waters 2 |
Florida |
Sr. |
Bayport, N.Y. |
| M |
Emma Arnold |
Old Dominion |
Gr. |
Palmyra, N.Y. |
| M |
Belle Mastropietro * 1 1 1 |
Temple |
Gr. |
Springfield, Pa. |
| M |
Kemper Robinson |
Vanderbilt |
Jr. |
Owings Mills, Md. |
| D |
Ava Bleckley * |
James Madison |
Fr. |
Newtown Square, Pa. |
| D |
Maddie Barber 2 2 |
Temple |
Sr. |
Dennis Township, N.J. |
| D |
Katie Shallow * 2 1 |
Temple |
Sr. |
Havertown, Pa. |
| G |
Elyse Finnelle |
Florida |
So. |
Deale, Md. |
| G |
Taylor Grollman |
Temple |
Jr. |
Severn, Md. |
| |
|
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| * unanimous selection |
| |
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| |
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| ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM |
| Pos. |
Player |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
| A |
Lauren Ottensmeyer |
Cincinnati |
Sr. |
Ballwin, Md. |
| A |
Liz Harrison |
Florida |
Sr. |
Marietta, Ga. |
| A |
Kacey Knobloch |
James Madison |
Gr. |
Moorestown, N.J. |
| A |
Mackenzie Roth 1 2 |
Temple |
Sr. |
Schnecksville, Pa. |
| A |
Molly Finlay |
Vanderbilt |
Jr. |
Oakton, Va. |
| M |
Hailey Joy Simpson |
Cincinnati |
Fr. |
Reston, Va, |
| M |
Ellie Bromley 2 |
East Carolina |
Gr. |
Cary, N.C. |
| M |
Paisley Eagan 2 2 |
Florida |
Gr. |
Wilton, Conn. |
| M |
Taylor Marchetti 2 |
James Madison |
Sr. |
Forest Hill, Md. |
| M |
Maeve Tobin |
Temple |
Gr. |
Ridgefield, Conn. |
| M |
Ella Smith |
Vanderbilt |
Sr. |
Lake Oswego, Ore. |
| D |
Alexis Rich |
Cincinnati |
Jr. |
North Brunswick, N.J. |
| D |
Alexandra Giacolone 2 2 |
East Carolina |
Sr. |
Manorville, N.Y. |
| D |
Theresa Bragg |
Florida |
So. |
Severna Park, Md. |
| D |
Kaitlyn Davies |
Florida |
So. |
Wayne, N.J. |
| D |
Lizzy Pirisino |
James Madison |
Sr. |
Ruxton, Md. |
| D |
Taylor Sampone |
Vanderbilt |
Sr. |
Rochester, N.Y. |
| G |
Caitlin Boden |
James Madison |
So. |
Merrick, N.Y. |
1 2 indicates previous selections to first or second team