UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Three Penn State Women's Lacrosse athletes were named Big Ten Players to Watch on Tuesday. Graduate student Taylor Regan and sophomores Sammy Dupcak and Kristin O'Neill were all recognized by the conference.
Penn State, ranked 25th in the ILWomen/IWLCA Preseason Poll, was selected fifth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll.
Northwestern was projected to lead the conference, followed by Maryland, Rutgers and Johns Hopkins. Following Penn State in the poll were Ohio State and Michigan.
A transfer from Virginia where she played as an attacker from 2018-21, Regan will be playing her fifth year as a Nittany Lion. She appeared in 47 games for Cavaliers scoring 39 goals while adding 26 assists for 65 points.
The Larchmont, N.Y. native had a career-best season senior year in 2021 with 24 goals and a team-best 16 helpers in 18 contests (all starts). She started hot her junior season in 2020 with 10 points in five games before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Annapolis, Md. Dupcak is set to start her sophomore campaign after playing in 13 games with 12 starts as a freshman last year. She recorded an assist, 17 ground balls, 28 draw controls and 10 caused turnovers.
In PSU's 15-13 win over No. 7 Maryland, she collected a career-high five ground balls, four draw controls and a career-best three caused turnovers. She then registered a career-high seven draw controls in the Nittany Lions' 13-12 overtime win vs. No. 13 Michigan.
Aiming to follow up her successful freshman season is O'Neill who collected numerous accolades in her 2021 collegiate debut. The midfielder out of Odenton, Md. was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, selected All-Big Ten Second Team and Tabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times last season.
She played in 13 games, making 12 starts while collecting 29 goals (tied seventh among Division I freshmen averaging 2.23 goals per game), eight assists, 18 ground balls, six draw controls and 15 caused turnovers.O'Neill ranked seventh in the Big Ten averaging 1.15 caused turnovers per game and held second in the conference with a .615 free-position percentage.
The Blue & White return 22 members from the 2021 squad. Penn State also welcomed seven freshmen along with the graduate transfer, Regan.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Missy Doherty, begin the 2022 campaign on Wednesday, February 16, at Drexel.
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensLacrosse) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatewlax).
