Offensive P-O-Y Iaquinta Leads Scots on All-NCAC Team

Helena Iaquinta

Megan Sward

WOOSTER, Ohio – For the third time in the last four years, The College of Wooster women’s lacrosse team locked up the Offensive Player of the Year award in the North Coast Athletic Conference as senior Helena Iaquinta (Nashua, N.H. / Nashua) earned the honor voted on by the coaches and announced by the league office on Friday, May 12.

Joining Iaquinta with first-team honors were a pair of familiar faces as classmates Megan Sward (Sewickley, Pa. / Sewickley Academy) and Nicki Hunt (Greenville, Del. / St. Paul’s School for Girls) each picked up their third All-NCAC awards. Four other Scots landed spots on the all-conference team for the first time in their young careers, led by freshman Romy Eberle (New Haven, Conn. / Hopkins), who picked up first-team honors. Sophomore Jess Baylor (Milton, Mass. / Noble & Greenough) and first-year Hillary Darragh (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) each landed on the second-team, while freshman Taryn Higgins (Marblehead, Mass. / Marblehead) was honorable mention.

Iaquinta, who was honorable mention all-conference last season, joins Beth Hemminger (2003) and Sward (2004) as Wooster’s most recent recipients of the league’s top honor after finishing fourth in the NCAC with 4.07 points per game. She started all 14 games this spring at attacker and totaled 57 points on 44 goals, third-best in the NCAC and tied for the eighth-highest total in school history, and 13 assists. Iaquinta scored a goal in every single contest this season, including tying a career-high with five on three occasions. For her career, she accumulated 143 points, including 117 goals, 11th all-time at the College.

Sward earned her third-straight first-team honor after finishing second in the NCAC with 4.79 points per game. As the “quarterback” of the offense, she tallied a conference-best 32 assists, which was the fourth-highest total in school history, and tossed in 35 goals for a career-high total of 67 points. Sward scored a point in every single game, including tying a career-best with eight points against both Kenyon College and St. Vincent College. She closed her four-year tenure as the fourth-leading scorer in Wooster history with 225 points coming on 123 goals and 102 assists, which rank tied for eighth and second in school history, respectively.

Nicki Hunt

Romy Eberle

Hunt returned to the all-conference team after earning first-team honors as a sophomore and second-team status as a freshman. The Scot goalie made 145 saves against 100 goals allowed to lead the NCAC in save percentage (.592) for the third time in four years. Hunt posted a 7.57 GAA in almost 800 minutes in goal (792:38) and allowed just three of 14 opponents to net 10 goals or more. Noteworthy, she tied her career-high with 22 saves in an 8-7 win over then 13th-ranked Wesleyan (Conn.) University. Hunt played 57 games in goal during her career at Wooster, totaling nearly 3,000 minutes (2973:54), 362 goals allowed, 560 saves, a .607 save percentage, and a 7.30 GAA.

Eberle was one of just two freshmen to start all 14 games for the Scot defense this spring. She led the team and ranked among the conference leaders in scooping up groundballs, accumulating 42 to go with six draw controls and 16 caused turnovers. Additionally, Eberle got in the offensive side of things at the end of the season, picking up her first two goals and an assist against Seton Hill University.

Baylor and Darragh earned their first two postseason honors out of the midfield. Baylor established herself as one of the team’s most tenacious defenders, ranking among the leaders in groundballs (30), draw controls (17), and caused turnovers (26), while Darragh did a little of everything, tallying 14 goals, five assists, 23 groundballs, 21 draw controls, and 17 caused turnovers. Both players were key contributors in a conference contest against Denison University, with Baylor tossing in her second career goal and Darragh adding two scores in a 7-2 victory.

Higgins, who is also a member of the women’s soccer team, was a key component of the defensive midfield, starting all 14 games. She finished second on the team with 34 groundballs and added 12 draw controls and 17 caused turnovers. Higgins helped Wooster post a team GAA of 7.57 and hold all six of its conferences foes under 10 goals. She also contributed on the offensive side of the field, tallying her first career goal against Denison and adding three assists.

Wooster, under the direction of first-year head coach Liz Ford, ran off the second undefeated conference season in school history in 2006 (6-0) and captured the top-seed in the NCAC Tournament. The Scots were upset in the semifinals, though, by eventual champion Denison 10-7 to end the season with an 11-3 overall record.