Pritchard, Sward All-American; Three Others All-Region

For Immediate Release

June 3, 2004

Written by Hugh Howard
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Nicole Pritchard

Megan Sward

The College of Wooster’s Nicole Pritchard (Wildwood, Mo. / Lafayette) and Megan Sward (Sewickley, Pa. / Sewickley Academy) both landed spots on the 2004 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association / US Lacrosse All-America Third Team, announced the organizations Tuesday. It’s the first time Wooster has had two All-Americans in the same season since 1996, when Emily Brunk and Liz Conrad each earned the honor.

For Pritchard, a senior defender, it caps an award season that saw her named All-West Region for a fourth time, the 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and first-team all-league for a third-straight season. This spring, she was the anchor of a defense that averaged a conference-low 7.82 goals allowed, while tallying 30 groundballs and a team-leading 26 caused turnovers in 17 games. Offensively, Pritchard scored a career-high four goals and assisted on two others for six points.

Sward, a sophomore attacker who was previously tabbed the NCAC Offensive Player of the Year, stepped in for the program’s only three-time All-American and all-time leading scorer (Beth Hemminger), and the offense barely missed a beat in 2004. Sward tallied 63 points — the 10th-highest total by a Scot — on 40 goals and 23 assists to pace a unit that scored 11.24 goals per game. That brings Sward’s career total to 109 points, which puts her on track to finish among the top-five scorers in school history.

Joanna Harrod

Nicki Hunt

The IWLCA also recently released its all-region teams for 2004, and joining Pritchard and Sward on the All-West First Team were Wooster junior Ashley Arnold (Columbus, Ohio / Thomas Worthington), and Joanna Harrod (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore) and Nicki Hunt (Lutherville, Md. / St. Pauls School for Girls), both sophomores.

Arnold, an offensive-oriented midfielder, was the team’s second-leading scorer with 34 points, an average of 2.00 per game. She scored 28 goals and assisted on six others, while also tallying 28 groundballs, eight caused turnovers, and seven draw controls.

Harrod was another integral player on the NCAC’s stingiest backfield, which yielded less than 10 goals to 13 of 17 opponents this season and an average of just 25.6 shots per outing. Statistically, she collected 36 groundballs — second-most on the team — and contributed 17 caused turnovers, four draw controls, and one goal.

Hunt, the squad’s starting goalkeeper, finished the year with the second-best save percentage in NCAA Div. III, making stops at a school-record rate of .628. Overall, she totaled 181 saves, compared to 107 goals allowed, during 16 starts and 793 minutes of action for an NCAC-leading 8.09 GAA. Also, Hunt registered 24 groundballs and nine caused turnovers.

As a team, the Scots won a school-record 13 games (13-4) during the 2004 campaign, captured their third consecutive conference championship, and hosted an NCAA Tournament Round-of-16 game against Nazareth (N.Y.) College, which they lost 12-5.