EVANSTON, Ill. — No. 1 Northwestern added to its stacked 2023 resume with three individual awards from the Big Ten Conference: Kelly Amonte Hiller was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, Izzy Scane earned Big Ten Attacker of the Year honors and Madison Taylor is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Amonte Hiller has led Northwestern to a 17-1 record, a Big Ten regular season title and a Big Ten Tournament championship. Riding a 17-game win streak, the Wildcats own their first No. 1 ranking since 2013 and earned their first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 2009. This is Amonte Hiller's third Big Ten Coach of the Year title, also winning the award in 2019 and 2021. She won this season's award unanimously.
Unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection and Big Ten Tournament MVP Scane was the unanimous Big Ten Attacker of the Year. With 81 goals and 27 assists, Scane leads the nation in both goals per game (5.13) and points per game (6.8). The Clarkston, Mich. native also earned three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards and two IWCLA National Player of the Week awards. This is Scane's second Big Ten Attacker of the Year title after winning the award during her record breaking 2021 season when she tallied 98 scores.
Taylor made program history en route to winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The Wantagh, N.Y. native won eight Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, breaking Scane's previous record of seven – which she won consecutively at the end of the 2019 season. Taylor is second on the team in both ground balls (28) and draw controls (54), not to mention her 46 goals and 17 assists. Northwestern has won three of the last four Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards, with Scane winning in 2019 and Samantha White winning last year (Due to Covid-19, the Big Ten did not have postseason awards in 2020).
All three will be back on the field when Northwestern faces either Michigan or Central Michigan at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, May 14 in its 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 19th under Amonte Hiller, who owns a 49-11 record in tournament play.