Cleveland, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference announced the 2024 women’s lacrosse awards today. The seven league head coaches voted on the All-MAC first, second and freshman teams as well as the Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards. 

Detroit Mercy’s Cat Kopchia was named Offensive Player of the Year, while Eastern Michigan’s Sydney Lawrence earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

Central Michigan’'s Alexa Martel earned Goalkeeper of the Year honors, while Eastern Michigan's Maddy Porter was tabbed the league's Freshman of the Year. Detroit Mercy's Madeline Dugan was selected by her peers as the Coach of the Year. 

Kopchia, the two-time MAC Offensive Player of the Week, currently tops the team with 61 points (second in the MAC) and 55 goals (second in the league) and 29th in the nation. Both stats are career highs as her goals are tied for the seventh most by a Titan in school history. In MAC play, her 26 points and 23 goals are second, only to Kent State's Jackie Wolford (35, 27) and she has scored a goal in all 16 games, with 15 at two or more, 13 with three or more, seven with four or more, three with at least five. She is also 10-of-17 on the free position on the season. She posted a career-high six goals at Butler and had four goals and five points against Kent State, a team-high four goals against Eastern Michigan and four goals and five points at Robert Morris.

For the first time in program history, an Eagle earned the top defensive honor with Lawrence earning the award. An all-around contributor who also earned a spot on the 2024 All-MAC First Team, Lawrence finished the regular season ranked second in the MAC with 1.69 caused turnovers per game, an average that also ranked her 34th nationally, as she recorded at least one in 9-of-13 games played this year. Additionally, she set a program record with five caused turnovers twice at the end of the year, including against Xavier University (April 17) and Robert Morris University (April 27). Lawrence also ranked eighth in ground balls at 2.23 per contest and added 15 draw controls, marking back-to-back seasons she has recorded 15+ ground balls, caused turnovers, and draw controls in a season.

While her defensive skills earned her the award, the midfielder made her name known on offense as well as she was one of only four players to rank in the top 10 of the MAC statistical rankings in all three major offensive categories, including eighth in goals (1.92), fourth in assists (1.15), and fifth in points (3.08). Those totals were helped by her 13-point outburst at Youngstown State University, April 21, when she scored eight goals and dished five assists. The 13 points are tied for the most in a single game in MAC history and rank tied for the most in a single game in the NCAA this year.

Martel stands as NCAA I’s leader with 193 total saves (a program record) through the end of the regular season, third in saves per game (11.35) and 30th in ground balls per game (2.71, team-high 46 total). The junior became the second goalie in program history to reach 400 career saves (just 14 away from the program record) and the sixth player to eclipse 100 ground balls (just three away from the most by a goalie) in the final week of this season. Martel also holds MAC records for Defensive Player of the Week selections in a season (five in 2024) and for a career (seven). 

The only player in the league to garner three accolades and one of only two rookies to earn multiple honors this year, Porter not only was named the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year and to the 2024 MAC All-Freshman Team, she also earned placement on the 2024 All-MAC Second Team. Porter, who joined Sienna Hinchcliffe of the University of Akron as the only freshmen on the second team, was previously honored April 9 as the MAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Porter finished the regular season as one of the top net-minders in the MAC and one of the top defenders as well as she accumulated 60 ground balls for an average of 4.29 per game, both of which rank first in the NCAA Division I in 2024. She posted three games with eight or more ground balls, including 11 at the University of Detroit Mercy (April 7), a total that ranks tied for the second most in a single game in the NCAA this year.

Coach Dugan led the Titans to the postseason for the first time since 2019 and the first time as members of the MAC. UDM's five wins on the year are also the most since 2019, all for a program that was picked to finish last in the preseason standings.

The All-MAC first, second and freshman teams were also released and are listed below.

2024 MAC Women’s Lacrosse All-MAC Teams & Specialty Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year: Cat Kopchia, Detroit Mercy
Defensive Player of the Year: Sydney Lawrence, Eastern Michigan
Goalkeeper of the Year: Alexa Martel, Central Michigan
Freshman of the Year: Maddy Porter, Eastern Michigan
Coach of the Year: Madeline Dugan, Detroit Mercy
 
All-MAC First Team
Attack- Skye DePrado, Central Michigan
Attack- Cat Kopchia, Detroit Mercy
Attack- Mackenzie Blackwell, Eastern Michigan
Attack- Jackie Wolford, Kent State
Defender-Jozy Allen, Central Michigan
Defender- Lily Miller, Kent State
Defender- Mackenzie Bell, Robert Morris
Midfielder- Noelle Boyd, Akron
Midfielder- Sydney Lawrence, Eastern Michigan
Midfielder- Zayda Crumpton, Kent State
Midfielder- Jenna Irwin, Robert Morris
Goalkeeper- Alexa Martel, Central Michigan
 
All-MAC Second Team
Attack- Sienna Hinchcliffe, Akron
Attack- Sadie Hinkle, Central Michigan
Attack- Jordan Anderson, Robert Morris
Defender- Bryanne Harner, Akron
Defender- Avery Wagnon, Central Michigan
Defender- Kiah Nuessgen, Detroit Mercy
Midfielder-Maddy Camm, Detroit Mercy
Midfielder- Leah Bodnar, Detroit Mercy
Midfielder- Alyssa Jarvis, Detroit Mercy
Midfielder- Colleen Tifft, Robert Morris
Midfielder- Sandy Edwards. Central Michigan
Goalkeeper- Maddy Porter, Eastern Michigan
 
All-Freshman Team
Sienna Hinchliffe, Akron
Ava Regitz, Central Michigan
Natalie DiSanto, Central Michigan
Maddie Porter, Eastern Michigan
Karly Low, Eastern Michigan
Morgan Halli, Kent State
Sydney Davis, Kent State
Jenna Evans, Robert Morris
Isabella Teal, Robert Morris
Lena Cox, Youngstown State
Paige Borkowski, Youngstown State
Katie Grottenthaler, Youngstown State