CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced its 2021 lacrosse All-MAC teams, its Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Coach of the Year on Thursday, as voted by the league's head coaches.

Robert Morris' Katrina Silva was named MAC Coach of the Year, while Central Michigan's Natalie Karlen was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year. The hardware kept coming for the Colonials as Shea McArdle took home MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, while RMU's Katelyn Miller was named the Goalkeeper of the Year. Kent State's Jackie Wolford rounded out the Specialty Award honors after being named the Freshman of the Year.

Karlen, a senior attacker from Hagerstown, Md., led the MAC with 64 goals and 4.27 goals per game in 2021 as the Chippewas finished 7-2 in conference games and in second place in the standings. Karlen's goal total ranks eighth nationally and her goals per game is 11th best in the country. She collected 86 points, which led the MAC and ranked sixth nationally. She is CMU's career leader in goals (171), points (247) and shots (378) and holds the program single-season record in each of those three categories: 64 goals, 86 points, 125 shots.

For Silva, it his her first ever Coach of the Year honor since taking over the helm of the Colonials, and comes on the heels of the best season on program history that saw RMU go 10-0 in MAC play and earn their first conference championship in program history.  

Miller is RMU's all-time leader in saves (597), wins (53), and goals against average (9.20), Miller lead the MAC with a 7.83 goals against average as well as a .530 save percentage to go along with a perfect 10-0 record in 2021.The graduate was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week earlier this year and currently ranks sixth in all of NCAA in SV%, and has compiled 106 total saves so far in 2021. A stalwart in net for RMU, Miller has started every single game in goal since her rookie year, a record streak that currently stands at 75 straight starts.
 
Rounding out RMU's trio of award winners is McArdle, who earns First Team as well as Defensive Player of the Year honors following one of RMU's stingiest seasons in program history. The graduate led Robert Morris in caused turnovers with 30 and ranked second in ground balls with 38 for the Colonials and currently sits first and fourth in the MAC in each category, respectively.  She posted a career best and program record eight caused turnovers against Youngstown State on April 3, and currently sits fifth all-time for caused turnovers in a single season. She was also named MAC Defensive Player of the Week on March 25.  

Wolford's incredible second half of the season and dominance in conference play led her to receive one of the highest conference honors. The Columbus, Ohio native scored 21 of her 27 goals in MAC play. She posted a whopping 15 goals in the last four conference games of the season, ranked second on the team in conference goals and tied for 7th in the conference. Wolford showed up big time in the team's four conference wins, scoring 13 goals and recording 17 total points. Her all-around impact helped the Flashes to a program-recorded five wins.
 

In addtion, the 2021 All-MAC First & Second teams were also announced with Robert Morris leading the way with 11 student-athletes recognized. 

The MAC Champion Colonials return to action tomorrow when they take on Notre Dame in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance at 1:00 p.m. ET in South Bend, Indiana.