Four Tar Heels Announced As Tewaaraton Award Nominees

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – University of North Carolina women's lacrosse standouts Sam Forrest, Ashley Humphrey, Chloe Humphrey and Brooklyn Walker-Welch have been named Tewaaraton Award Nominees, the Tewaaraton Foundation announced on Thursday. The four Tar Heel honorees are the second-most nationally on the list of 25 women's lacrosse players from around the country.

The Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. The foursome will look to join nine other Tar Heels as Tewaaraton Award finalists when the list of 25 is paired down to five later this spring. Christine McPike (2002), Amber Falcone (2009), Jen Russell (2010), Becky Lynch (2012), Kara Cannizzaro (2013), Marie McCool (2017, '18), Taylor Moreno (2021), Jamie Ortega (2021, '22) and Ally Mastroianni (2022) all earned finalist status during their Tar Heel careers.

Forrest, a junior defender from Glastonbury, Conn., is one of the key cogs in Carolina's top-ranked defense. She is often assigned UNC opponent's top scorer and has done a masterful job this season keeping them in check. Forrest is an Inside Lacrosse Midseason Honorable Mention All-American and a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Week. On the year, Forrest has tallied 14 groundballs, 14 caused turnovers and four draw controls for a defense that is allowing just 6.14 goals per game. The Heels 86 goals allowed is by far the fewest allowed in the nation this year.

A graduate student from Darien, Conn., Ashley Humphrey is the top playmaker in the country. A three-time All-American, she currently leads the Tar Heels in points with 79, which is tied for seventh nationally. She's tallied 56 assists and 23 goals on the year to accumulate her 79 points. Ashley's 56 assists and four assists per game lead the nation and rank third on UNC's single-season list. An Inside Lacrosse Midseason First-Team All-American, National Player of the Week honoree and two-time ACC Player of the Week this season, she is the NCAA's active leader in assists (224) and assists per game (3.34) and ranks second in points per game (5.00).

Freshman phenom Chloe Humphrey is widely considered the nation's most dynamic young attacker, having scored 58 goals to go along with 18 assists for 76 points. Her 58 goals are tied for sixth nationally and her 76 points rank 10th. Chloe has scored six goals three times this season and has tallied hat tricks in 11 of the first 14 games of her collegiate career. An Inside Lacrosse Midseason Second-Team All-American, National Player of the Week and two-time ACC Player of the Week this season, she is one of the main reasons UNC ranks second nationally in scoring offense at 17.6 goals per game.

Walker-Welch, a junior defender from Courtice, Ontario, is a two-time All-American and the general of UNC's top-ranked defense. After missing last season due to injury, she returned as ILWomen's top-ranked defender on its preseason Top 50 list and made the Tar Heels one of, if not, the toughest teams to attack. An Inside Lacrosse Midseason First-Team All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Week, Walker-Welch has collected 20 groundballs this season to go along with 14 caused turnovers for a defense that is allowing just 6.14 goals per game. The Heels 86 goals allowed is by far the fewest allowed in the nation this year.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Forrest

Ashley Humphrey

Chloe Humphrey

Brooklyn Walker-Welch

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