DURHAM, N.C. - Three players from the Duke women's lacrosse team have earned All-ACC recognition as announced by the league Thursday, April 18. Seniors Emma Hamm, Mollie Mackler and Kim Wenger were named to the 18-member team as determined by a vote of the conference's six head coaches.
Both Hamm, a three-time All-ACC honoree, and Wenger picked up their second consecutive all-conference honors, while Mackler earns her first All-ACC accolade. North Carolina led all schools with five honorees, followed by Maryland with four selections and Duke and Boston College with three each.
A two-time All-American, Hamm leads the ACC and ranks eighth nationally in draw controls per game (5.00). With 75 draw controls in 2012, the Wayne, Pa., native broke her own Duke single season record (70) set just last year. One of Duke's top threats, Hamm has totaled 17 goals and 17 assists, while also leading the Blue Devils with 18 caused turnovers. She is the only player in the ACC to rank in the top-5 in the conference in assists per game, draw controls per game and caused turnovers per game.
A 2011 Tewaaraton finalist, Hamm has established herself as one of the best players in Duke history. She holds the Duke record with 251 career draw controls and is the first Blue Devil to total 75 or more goals, assists, ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers in a career.
A midfielder from Malvern, Pa., Wenger has collected career highs in both goals (21) and draw controls (42) this season, while also joining Hamm as the only two Blue Devils to reach double figures in goals, assists, ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers in 2012. In conference games, Wenger amassed a team-high 12 points on five goals and seven assists as her clip of 1.40 assists per game in ACC contests tied for second in the league.
An All-America selection a season ago, Wenger has totaled 55 goals, 42 assists, 108 ground balls, 105 draw controls and 66 caused turnovers for her career. She is three points shy of becoming just the seventh Blue Devil to total 100 points and 100 draw controls in a career.
Duke's starting goaltender, Mackler anchors a defensive unit that ranks ninth nationally, allowing opponents just 8.73 goals per game. With 102 saves in 15 games, she leads the ACC in saves per game (6.80) and ranks second in the league in save percentage (.447), while posting the highest save percentage among ACC goalies during conference play. The Longmeadow, Mass., native has a season goals against average of 8.54, the lowest by a Duke goalie since Megan Huether posted a 7.34 average in 2006.
For her career Mackler has accumulated 350 saves, recording 15 or more saves in a single game on four occasions, including a school-record 20-save performance at Northwestern last year. She ranks fourth in the Duke record books in both career goals against average (9.30) and save percentage (.466).
No. 2 seed Duke will host the 2012 ACC Tournament this weekend at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils face the winner of Friday's quarterfinal contest between third-seeded Maryland and sixth-seeded Virginia Tech Saturday, April 21 at 3 p.m. The conference championship game is set for Monday, April 23 at 7 p.m. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be televised by RSN, while ESPNU will broadcast Monday's championship game.
-d-u-k-e-
