CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced the 2026 women’s lacrosse awards today. The eight league head coaches voted on the All-MAC first, second and freshman teams as well as the Coach of the Year, Attacker of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. 

Akron's Sienna Hinchcliffe was named Attacker of the Year, while teammate Katie Baumer earned Midfielder of the Year honors. 

UMass' Bridget Valentine earned Defensive of the Year honors, while Eastern Michigan's Maddy Porter was tabbed the league's Goalkeeper of the Year for the second year in a row. UMass' Cate Marshall was voted Freshman of the Year, while UMass' Jana Drummond was selected by her peers as the Coach of the Year to round out specialty award winners. 

In league-only games, Hinchcliffe started all seven games and led the Mid-American Conference in goals (39), points (58), shots (75) and shots on goal (58), while rating third in assists (19). She scored four or more goals in six of seven league games, including five straight, including a career-high seven goals versus Central Michigan (April 25) and Detroit Mercy (March 14), while also tallying six goals at UMass (April 4) and Robert Morris (April 11) and against Youngstown State. She finished the campaign averaging 5.57 goals, 2.71 assists and 10.86 shots per contest in seven league games. Overall, she started all 15 games for Akron leading the Zips in goals (70), points (97), shots (143), shots on goal (102), while rating second in assists (31) and ground balls (25) and third in draw controls (46) and fourth in caused turnovers (12). She set single-season program records for goals (70), points (97), assists (31) and shots (142), while ranking second in shots on goal (102).

In league-only games, Baumer started all seven games and registered 17 goals, 12 assists and 29 points on the strength of 41 shots, including 29 shots on goal, while leading Akron in draw controls (32), ground balls (18) and caused turnovers (14). She ranked second on the squad in goals, shots and shots on goals and third in assists and points. In league-only matches, Baumer ranked fourth in the MAC in draw controls (4.43) and caused turnovers (2.00), fifth in assists per match (1.71), sixth in goals per game (2.43), points per contest (4.14), seventh in shots per match (5.86) and ninth in ground balls (2.71). She scored a goal in all seven league games and had two or more assists in five league tilts. Overall, she started all 15 games for Akron, ranking first on the team in draw controls (58) and ground balls (32) and second in goals (37), points (58), shots (82), shots on goal (60) and caused turnovers (19).

Valentine picked up the Minutewomen’s third Defensive Player of the Year honor in four seasons after Audra Tosone was named Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024. A two-time MAC Defensive Player of the Week, Valentine stands first on the Minutewomen in caused turnovers (32) while she’s second only to goalkeeper Bayley Duffy in groundballs, tallying 40. Valentine’s 31 caused turnovers are already tied for ninth place in program history, while she’s second in the MAC and 33rd in the country with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. Her skill for clearing and pushing fast breaks is evident through her five goals and two assists, scoring goals against LIU, UConn, Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy and Kent State. At Eastern Michigan, Valentine had four groundballs and a program-record tying seven caused turnovers. Most importantly, Valentine is an anchor of a defense that is first in the MAC in scoring defense, allowing just 7.32 goals per game, a mark that’s also fourth nationally. The Minutewomen have allowed six goals or fewer in six of the seven conference games. Valentine helps lead a defense that is third in the country in caused turnovers and fourth in scoring defense. She was also named first team All-MAC.
 
Marshall is UMass’ first Freshman of the Year since 2011, when Katie Ferris was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. She was also named second team All-MAC. Marshall has excelled as the Minutewomen’s primary draw taker during her rookie campaign. Marshall owns 141 draw controls on the season, good for sixth in program history. Marshall’s 8.81 per game lead the MAC and are good for 14th nationally. The Minutewomen as a team stand fourth in the country in draw controls per game and sixth in draw control percentage. Marshall has seven games with double-figure draw, including six of the last eight. At Detroit Mercy, she tallied a career-high 21 draws at Detroit Mercy, the most by a freshman in NCAA Division I since April of 2013. In seven MAC games, Marshall has 92 draw controls, which is more than double anyone else in the conference. The next most is 37.
 
Along with being named the MAC Goalkeeper of the Year in back-to-back seasons, Maddy Porter also earned a place on the First Team All-MAC list for the second consecutive year and marked her third season earning All-MAC after she was tabbed for the second team in 2024 as a freshman. Porter, who earned the sixth major award in program history, added to her previously earned goalkeeper award in 2025 after being named the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year. This season, she continued to shine as one of the top keepers in the conference and the NCAA as she ranked among the top 50 nationally in five categories, including ninth in saves per game (9.63), ninth in save percentage (.498), 11th in saves (154), 41st in goals against average (10.21), and fourth in ground balls (4.13) while posting three games with 16+ saves, including 21 at Vanderbilt (March 4), which ranked as the second-highest total in a single game in the NCAA this year, while her eight ground balls against Cincinnati (March 8) tied for the 10th-highest nationally. 

Porter backstopped a team that won 10 games, marking the first time EMU has reached double-digit wins, while holding eight foes to single-digit goals scored, including three MAC teams at four or fewer goals while posting a full half shutout of two different conference teams. For her efforts, she was named the MAC Goalkeeper of the Week five times in 2026 to bring her career total to eight after earning three last year and nine total as she was named the MAC Defender of the Week once in 2024 before the separate goalkeeper award was created.
 
Drummond was named a conference Coach of the Year for the fourth time in as many seasons. As a team, the Minutewomen are 16-2 and 7-0 in the MAC as Drummond is a perfect 35-0 in conference regular season games as head coach. As a team, the Minutewomen lead the nation in assists per game, points per game and team save percentage. UMass is second in scoring margin, scoring offense, third in caused turnover per game and fourth in scoring defense and draw controls per game. The Minutewomen are riding a 10-game winning streak into the MAC Tournament, their seventh straight season with a double-figure winning streak.

2026 MAC Women’s Lacrosse All-MAC Teams & Specialty Award Winners
Attacker of the Year: Sienna Hinchcliffe, Akron
Midfielder of the Year: Katie Baumer, Akron
Defensive Player of the Year: Bridget Valentine, UMass
Goalkeeper of the Year: Maddy Porter, Eastern Michigan
Freshman of the Year: Cate Marshall, UMass
Coach of the Year: Jana Drummond, UMass
 
All-MAC First Team
Attacker- Ava Connaughton, UMass
Attacker- Dylan Lyons, UMass
Attacker- Kassidy Morris, UMass
Attacker- Mackenzie Blackwell, Eastern Michigan
Attacker- Sienna Hinchcliffe, Akron
Defender- Anna Zucconi, Kent State
Defender- Bridget Valentine, UMass
Defender- Mackenzie Flannigan, Youngstown State
Midfielder- Alyssa Jarvis, Detroit Mercy
Midfielder- Katie Baumer, Akron
Midfielder- Lil Hancock, UMass
Midfielder- Mia Berthoff, Robert Morris
Goalkeeper- Maddy Porter, Eastern Michigan

All-MAC Second Team
Attacker- Emerson Henry, Eastern Michigan
Attacker- Kellen Fletcher, Akron
Attacker- Tracy Grollman, Eastern Michigan
Attacker- Zayda Crumpton, Kent State
Defender- Annika Wozney, Eastern Michigan
Defender- Ava Regitz, Central Michigan
Defender- Sarah Baumer, Akron
Defender- Sienna Diglio, UMass
Midfielder- Cate Marshall, UMass
Midfielder- Katie Onderdonk, UMass
Midfielder- Kelsea Dague, Eastern Michigan
Goalkeeper- Bayley Duffy, UMass

All-Freshman Team
Bayley Duffy, UMass
Caitlyn Naughton, UMass
Cate Marshall, UMass
Emma Reichert, Eastern Michigan
Gabi Puzevic, Robert Morris
Lea Otts, Robert Morris
Lucy Carney, Robert Morris
Mia Bradley, Central Michigan
Molly Brooks, Youngstown State
Savannah Hinchcliffe, Akron
Sienna Diglio, UMass
Taylor Burkett, Robert Morris