Feb. 9, 2012

American Lacrosse Conference website

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's Alex Frank, Alyssa Leonard, Shannon Smith and Taylor Thornton were among 15 players tabbed to the American Lacrosse Conference's Players to Watch list for the 2012 season. The Wildcats, winners of seven straight ALC crowns, also were voted a unanimous first-place selection in the ALC preseason coaches poll, announced on Wednesday.

Smith and Thornton were the IWLCA National Attacker and Defender of the Year, respectively, and along with Frank are returning 2011 IWLCA All-Americans for the Wildcats. Leonard burst on the scene for NU last season when she was the recipient of the ALC Rookie of the Year, ranking third in the nation in 2011 with 91 draw controls.

Northwestern leads the preseason poll in a conference in which five of the six teams earned top-20 rankings in the IWLCA Preseason poll announced last week. NU has won the last seven ALC championships, including all five conference tournaments since its inception in 2007.

The Wildcats begin the 2012 season on the road against No. 6 Stanford, with opening draw set for 9 p.m. CT Friday in California.

2012 ALC Players to Watch:
Ashley Bruns, Florida
Dana Cahill, Penn State
Gabby Capuzzi, Ohio State
Ally Carey, Vanderbilt
Kitty Cullen, Florida
Taylor D'Amore, Johns Hopkins
Sam Farrell, Florida
Alex Frank, Northwestern
Alyssa Leonard, Northwestern
Alayna Markwordt, Ohio State
Colleen McCaffrey, Johns Hopkins
Candace Rossi, Johns Hopkins
Shannon Smith, Northwestern
Taylor Thornton, Northwestern
Theresa Zichell, Penn State

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