Temple University Athletics
Two Owls Named to Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Lacrosse Team
6.15.16 | Women's Lacrosse
PHILADELPHIA - Graduated seniors Jaqi Kakalecik and Nicole Tiernan are among 12 student-athletes named to the 2016 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Lacrosse Team. The team is nominated and voted on by the sports information offices of 30 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better.
Kakalecik, a biochemistry major, earns the honor for a second time after also being named to the team in 2014. At Temple's annual Celebration of Champions in late April, Kakalecik was named the PNC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and she will attend Temple Medical School starting in the fall. She has twice been named to Temple's Trustee Ten for having one of the 10 highest GPA's among all student-athletes. Playing every minute in the cage for the Owls, Kakalecik finished the 2016 season ranked eighth among all NCAA Division I goalkeepers with a goals-against average of 7.08. That average also ranks eighth all-time in a single season at Temple, while her career goals-against average of 9.03 ranks sixth all-time. With 317 career saves, Kakalecik ranks ninth all-time in program history. She racked up the honors in her senior season, being named to the IWLCA All-Region Second Team and the BIG EAST Second Team after earning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors three times.
As a kinesiology major, Tiernan has been named to Temple's President's Honor Roll three years in a row for having a GPA of 3.5 or above. She was named to the BIG EAST Second Team as a senior, marking her second year in a row with postseason honors after being named to the BIG EAST First Team as a junior. Tiernan scored 22 goals in her final campaign as an Owl, and led with team with 20 caused turnovers while ranking second with 28 ground balls. She scored in 16 of 19 games for the Owls, including a hat trick at Marquette on April 16 and another in a huge BIG EAST semifinal win against UConn on May 5.
Rowan University junior Kelly O'Brien earned Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Lacrosse Team Performer of the Year honors. O'Brien is a two-time IWLCA All-America, earning second team honors in 2016. The Rowan Scholar-Athlete helped her team to a 5-1 record in the NJAC 5-1, leading the Profs to the conference tournament semifinals. A repeat selection to the All-Area team, she racked up 48 draw controls, 44 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers this season, while also helping out offensively with a pair of goals and three assists. O'Brien is a two-time first-team All-Conference and IWLCA All-Region selection, and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national student-athlete honor society.
The 12 members of the Academic All-Area Women's Lacrosse team include student-athletes from nine different institutions. Saint Joseph's (Maggie Egan, Caroline Hagan, Nora McCallion) earned three selections, while Temple was the only other school with more than one. The remainder of the Academic All-Area team includes Megan Chenworth (Haverford), Alex Condon (Penn), Chelsey Henderson (Villanova), Alexa McIntyre (Neumann), Liz Mower (Philadelphia University), and Sasha Wozniak (Cabrini).
In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better.
Kakalecik, a biochemistry major, earns the honor for a second time after also being named to the team in 2014. At Temple's annual Celebration of Champions in late April, Kakalecik was named the PNC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and she will attend Temple Medical School starting in the fall. She has twice been named to Temple's Trustee Ten for having one of the 10 highest GPA's among all student-athletes. Playing every minute in the cage for the Owls, Kakalecik finished the 2016 season ranked eighth among all NCAA Division I goalkeepers with a goals-against average of 7.08. That average also ranks eighth all-time in a single season at Temple, while her career goals-against average of 9.03 ranks sixth all-time. With 317 career saves, Kakalecik ranks ninth all-time in program history. She racked up the honors in her senior season, being named to the IWLCA All-Region Second Team and the BIG EAST Second Team after earning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors three times.
As a kinesiology major, Tiernan has been named to Temple's President's Honor Roll three years in a row for having a GPA of 3.5 or above. She was named to the BIG EAST Second Team as a senior, marking her second year in a row with postseason honors after being named to the BIG EAST First Team as a junior. Tiernan scored 22 goals in her final campaign as an Owl, and led with team with 20 caused turnovers while ranking second with 28 ground balls. She scored in 16 of 19 games for the Owls, including a hat trick at Marquette on April 16 and another in a huge BIG EAST semifinal win against UConn on May 5.
Rowan University junior Kelly O'Brien earned Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Lacrosse Team Performer of the Year honors. O'Brien is a two-time IWLCA All-America, earning second team honors in 2016. The Rowan Scholar-Athlete helped her team to a 5-1 record in the NJAC 5-1, leading the Profs to the conference tournament semifinals. A repeat selection to the All-Area team, she racked up 48 draw controls, 44 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers this season, while also helping out offensively with a pair of goals and three assists. O'Brien is a two-time first-team All-Conference and IWLCA All-Region selection, and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the national student-athlete honor society.
The 12 members of the Academic All-Area Women's Lacrosse team include student-athletes from nine different institutions. Saint Joseph's (Maggie Egan, Caroline Hagan, Nora McCallion) earned three selections, while Temple was the only other school with more than one. The remainder of the Academic All-Area team includes Megan Chenworth (Haverford), Alex Condon (Penn), Chelsey Henderson (Villanova), Alexa McIntyre (Neumann), Liz Mower (Philadelphia University), and Sasha Wozniak (Cabrini).
Players Mentioned
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