It is almost impossible not to include a Long Island lacrosse player on any list of the best athletes across United States colleges. The 2020 Maverik Women’s D-II Media All-American Teams were no exception, highlighting five players between the Adelphi Panthers and NYIT Bears women’s lacrosse programs.
Kole Pollock and Alexandra Beebe were named to the IL All-American First Team while Alison Johnson was announced as a member of the Second Team, for Adelphi. Jaclyn Grzelaczyk made the Second Team and Ashley Claud was honored as a member of the Third Team, for NYIT.
Pollock lived up to the hype of being named the D-II Women’s Player of the Year. The senior led the Panthers offensively by scoring 12 points and 10 goals in four games. She commanded the team scoring 81 goals last season, earning the IWLCA Player and Attacker of the Year and NCAA Most Outstanding Player awards. The attacker is ninth in program history with 277 career points and is on pace to break the record, if she returns next season.
Beebe complemented her teammate on the opposite end scooping 11 groundballs. The defender was responsible for 10 of the Panthers’ 47 caused turnovers, ranking second in the Northeast-10 this season. She led the team with 47 caused turnovers as a rookie in 2019.
Johnson excelled as the Adelphi team’s quarterback by dishing eight assists this season. She trailed Pollock and Christina McCabe as the third-highest point scorer, earning 11. The attacker’s 105 points were the second most in the conference and 72 assists ranked fourth nationally last season. The Cutchouge, N.Y. native was the 2018 NE10 Player of the Year.
Grzelaczyk commanded much of the NYIT team’s offense with her team-high 25 points. She led the Bears dishing 13 assists and was second with 12 goals. The attacker scored a hat trick in four of the five games played in this season. The Seaford, N.Y. native was the 2019 East Coast Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference Rookie of Year.
Claud dominated on the opposite side of the field winning 30 draw control battles and earned 18 ground balls. The graduate was named to the 2019 All-ECC First Team.
Adelphi went 3-1 wile NYIT went 3-2 in the shortended 2020 season.
