Division I Women’s Lacrosse Players of the Week 4-26-2022

Offensive Player of the Week

Belle Smith – Boston College

Smith turned in a stellar performance in the 15-13 win over No. 4 Syracuse. In a rematch of last season's national championship game, Smith tied her career-high with a game-best five goals against the Orange, while also tying a team-best with two ground balls and a caused turnover. Smith has now recorded three five-score games this season. Boston climbed to a No. 2 ranking in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll and heads into postseason play with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 Virginia Tech this Friday.

Co-Defensive Player of the Week

Hayley Hunt – Lehigh University

Over a two-game span, Hunt stopped 30-of-40 shots sent her way, resulting in two wins for the Mountain Hawks. She posted 11 saves in a 16-6 win over Lafayette and followed with a career-high 19 saves in a 12-4 win over Holy Cross, the most by a Lehigh goalie since February 2019. The 19 stops is tied for the tenth most saves in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse this season. Hunt’s performance earned her Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week as well. The Mountain Hawks will face Colgate in their final regular season game this Thursday.

Co-Defensive Player of the Week

Emily Sterling – University of Maryland

Sterling had a career day in goal to lead No. 8 Maryland past No. 2 Northwestern to clinch the Big Ten regular season title. She tallied a career-high 16 saves with only nine goals allowed, a .640 save percentage. Sterling assisted in holding an offense that was averaging 17 goals per game to just nine in the matchup. The junior goalie helped hold Northwestern to a .236 shooting percentage and now has a .564 save percentage on the season. Sterling’s save percentage is currently the best in the country and she has a .632 save percentage in Big Ten play. In this week’s ILWomen/IWLCA Division I Poll, Maryland jumped to a No. 4 ranking and will close out the regular season against No. 21 Michigan this Saturday.