May 3, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Led by unanimous selection Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.), the fifth-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team placed five players on the All-Big Ten team as announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
Lazo, a 2017 Tewaaraton Award nominee, earns her second straight All-Big Ten nod and is one of just six unanimous selections as part of the 20 member team. Johns Hopkins' Haley Schweizer and Maryland's Nadine Hadnagy, Zoe Stukenberg, Megan Taylor and Megan Whittle join Lazo as unanimous selections.
Fellow senior Abby Smucker (Bel Air, Md.) earns her third consecutive All-Big Ten nod while classmate Natalie Schmitt (Malvern, Pa.) secures her first postseason honor. Junior Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) and sophomore Madison Carter (Davidsonville, Md.) round out the quintet as they are each recognized for the second consecutive season.
Lazo is currently having a career-year for the Blue and White as her 80 points lead the Big Ten and tie for 12th in the nation. The senior has scored 43 goals while adding 37 assists to rank fourth and first in the conference, respectively. Her 37 assists tie for 20th nationally.
The Stevensville, Md. native recently became just the 13th player in program history to reach to 200-point milestone as her 202 points currently tie for ninth on the all-time points list while her 83 career assists are good for seventh.
Smucker who is known as one of the best defensive midfielders in the nation earns her third consecutive All-Big Ten nod. The senior is also having one of the best years of her career with 20 goals and seven assists for 27 points to tie her career-high.
Smucker is also tied for fourth in the conference averaging 2.24 ground balls per game while her 38 ground balls are a new career-high and rank third in the Big Ten. Smucker also leads the team in caused turnovers with 25 on the season.
Schmitt is one of the best lock down defensive players in the conference limiting scoring chances for opposing teams while pairing up against the opposition's top offensive threat. Schmitt has 27 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers on the season. What the senior does best is not reflected on the stat sheet, which has led to Penn State having the 28th best defense in the country and 18th best scoring margin. Both marks rank second in the Big Ten.
O'Donnell and Carter each earn their second-straight postseason nod as both have already outdone their offensive production from a year ago. Carter became just the first Nittany Lion to reach the 60-goal mark in the last 27 years as her 60 tallies lead the Big Ten and rank seventh in the nation. Also a Tewaaraton Nominee, the Davidsonville, Md. native has earned four Big Ten Offensive Player of the week honors this season and her 69 points are a new career-high after tallying 52 one season ago.
O'Donnell is third in the Big Ten with her 52 goals and she has added five assists for a career-high 57 points. The junior has scored five goals in the last three games and has 19 over her last four to jump into the Penn State record books as she now ranks 14th on the all-time goals list with 129 in 59 games played.
Senior Erika Spilker (Severna Park, Md.) earned Penn State's Sportsmanship Award Honoree.
The Nittany Lions continue their season on Friday evening as they battle No. 14 Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals on the Big Ten Network at 8:30 p.m. in College Park.
FULL BIG TEN RELEASE