Six W&L Women's Lacrosse Players Earn All-ODAC Honors

SALEM, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference announced its women’s lacrosse all-conference awards on Thursday afternoon and Washington and Lee had six players honored on the first and second teams.

Junior midfielder Emmy Mathews (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) was named the ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while also earning first team All-ODAC laurels at the midfield position.

Mathews was joined on the first team by senior defender Julia Gotwald (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes) and junior goalkeeper Katharine Farrar (Lexington, Va./Episcopal). Receiving second team honors were junior attacker Wilton Megargel (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield), sophomore midfielder Christina Benedetti (Derwood, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) and junior defender Kathy Brown (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville).

A philosophy and business administration double-major, Mathews was named the ODAC women’s lacrosse Scholar-Athlete for the first time in her career, while earning first team honors for the second consecutive year. She has played in 16 of the Generals’ 17 contests this season and is currently third on the team in scoring with 33 points off of 26 goals and seven assists. Additionally, she is second on the team in draw controls (28), while also collecting 23 ground balls and causing 18 turnovers. She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa (leadership) and Phi Eta Sigma (freshman) honor societies as well as Kathekon, Washington and Lee’s student alumni association.  In 2009, Mathews was one of three statewide winners of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges (VFIC)/Norfolk Southern Scholarship.

A first-time All-ODAC selection, Gotwald has started all 17 contest this year and she ranks second on the team with 19 caused turnovers and 35 draw controls, while collecting 25 ground balls.  She has also spearheaded a defense that ranks 18th in Division III with a 7.76 goals-against average.  A four-year letterwinner and a team captain this season, Gotwald has played in 66 games over the course of her career, starting the last three seasons for a defense that has ranked among the nation’s-best all three years.

Farrar, who earned ODAC honors for the first time in her career, has started 16 of the 17 games for the Generals this season. In those contests, she has posted a 12-4 record with an 8.42 goals-against average and .491 save percentage. She was also named the ODAC women’s lacrosse Player of the Week and the womenslacrosse.com Division III Defensive Player of the Week for the week of April 5.

Megargel was named to the second team for the first time after playing in 16 games for W&L this season. Currently, Megargel ranks second on the team in scoring with 40 points, while leading the team in goals (33). She has also collected 22 draw controls, 10 ground balls and registered six caused turnovers.

Benedetti has appeared in 14 games for the Generals this season, registering 15 points (11g, 4a) en route to receiving her first all-conference honor. She currently holds the second spot on the team with 29 ground balls, and has also recorded 20 draw controls and eight caused turnovers.

Brown also earned ODAC honors for the first time.  She has started all 17 games this spring and she leads the team in ground balls (37) and caused turnovers (27), in addition to claiming 19 draw controls.

Roanoke College goalkeeper Gina Valles was named the ODAC Player of the Year, while Virginia Wesleyan midfielder Nikki Salyers was tabbed as the Rookie of the Year. Lynchburg College head coach Bruce Reid earned ODAC Coach of the Year laurels.

The 15th-ranked Generals will return to action on Saturday as they host Christopher Newport for senior day at 2:00 pm.

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