University of North Carolina Athletics
Three Tar Heels Named Tewaaraton Award Nominees
April 22, 2007 | Women's Lacrosse
April 22, 2007
CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina's Jenn Cook, Kristen Hordy and Amber Falcone are among 17 nominees for the Tewaaraton Award, the top individual award in women's lacrosse, the award's foundation announced this weekend. Of the 17 nominees, five finalists will be selected and a winner will be announced at an awards banquet on May 30.
Carolina and No. 1-ranked Northwestern, which boasts Meredith Frank, Kristen Kjellman and Hannah Nielsen on the list, are the only two programs in the nation to boast three nominees. Among other Atlantic Coast Conference squads, Duke had two names on the list (Caroline Cryer and Kristen Waagbo), Virginia had one (Kate Breslin) and Maryland had one (Kelly Kasper).
Cook, regarded as perhaps the top on-ball defender in the country, is the anchor of a Tar Heel defense that ranked second in the nation in goals allowed in the latest NCAA statistics. Named the National Defender of the Year by Inside Lacrosse in 2006, Cook leads the ACC in ground balls this year with 57 and leads Carolina in draw controls (41) and caused turnovers (29). She has committed just nine turnovers this season. She was named first-team All-America and All-ACC in 2005 and 2006 and is a strong candidate for such honors again this spring. Cook was a Tewaaraton Award nominee in 2006. She enters the ACC Tournament with 190 career ground balls, just nine away from UNC's record of 199 set by Sarah Dacey (1996-98). Cook's 66 career games started are two off the school record of 68, set by Porter Wilkinson (1999-2002)
Goalkeeper Hordy leads the ACC in both goals-against average and save percentage. In the latest NCAA stats, she ranked third in the nation in GAA and fifth in save percentage. As a team, UNC ranked in the top five nationally in goals allowed at 6.3. Hordy enters next weekend's ACC Tournament with 526 career saves, just three shy of Carolina's all-time record of 529, held by Debbie Castine (1996-99). Hordy also is within reach of the school record for all-time minutes played by a goalkeeper. She has 3,534 entering Thursday's ACC Tournament action and the school record is 3,563 by Castine.
Falcone is a sophomore defender who earned third-team All-America honors as a freshman and could well earn national honors again in 2007. She is Carolina's top mark-up defender, matching up with top scorers from opposing teams. Falcone limited Blair Weymouth of Virginia to zero goals and one assist earlier this season, held Krista Pelizzi of Maryland to one goal and zero assists and limited Tewaaraton nominee Kjellman of Northwestern to one goal and zero assists.
The Tar Heels will host the ACC Tournament this weekend at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. Opening round action begins on Thursday afternoon. The semifinals will be Friday afternoon and the championship game is set for Sunday April 29 at 1 p.m.
