IWLCA  Recognizes 2024 Division III Players of the Year

Four student-athletes honored

The IWLCA has named four All-Americans from Division III as positional Players of the Year. The Division’s selection committee has also chosen one of the positional honorees as the Player of the Year.

DIVISION III

A three-time IWLCA All-American, Hope Shue is named this year’s Attacker of the Year and overall Division III Player of the Year for her continued dominance on the field. The junior has claimed a host of awards this year, including being named the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year, earning IWLCA All-Region First Team for the third consecutive year and garnering All-NESCAC First Team praises for the second-straight time. The midfielder has started all 23 contests for the Panthers and has tallied 106 points and 81 goals. Her point total is tied for the top spot in the program’s single-season history books, while her total goals rank second behind her own single-season record of 83 last season. She also paces the NESCAC in both categories this season. The Panther has registered two or more goals in every contest this year, including 13 games with four or more markers. She leads the squad with six game-winning goals and is second on the team with 70 draw controls. This season, Shue has rewritten the Middlebury record books, ascending to second in career goals (220) and third in points (272).

A starter in all 24 games, senior midfielder Maddie Montgomery leads the Herons with 84 goals and 102 points. Her 102 points are third on William Smith's all-time list. Montgomery finishes seventh in the nation in goals and ranks second on the team with 72 draw controls. Montgomery has scored five or more goals in seven games this season and recorded at least three goals in her last 10 games. Montgomery, the 2024 Liberty League Offensive Player of the Year, was named an IWLCA first team All-American for the second straight year. She is also a three-time USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American. A four-year starter, Montgomery is one of most prolific scorers in William Smith history. She holds the program's career records for goals with 287 and draw controls with 318 and is second with 351 points.

Natalie Held, a junior from Ellicott City, Md., earns IWLCA Defender of the Year after collecting her second All-American honor of 2024 after being tabbed a first-teamer by USA Lacrosse Magazine in early May. The stellar defender repeated as the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Defensive Player of the Year this season, setting new career highs in draw controls (83), ground balls (55), and caused turnovers (40), while leading the Sea Gulls in all three categories. Held headlines a Sea Gull unit that ranks 28th nationally in scoring defense, surrendering 8.41 goals per contest.

Bella Garabo is no stranger to the All-American squad as she was a First Team pick last spring in addition to being the 2023 IWLCA Division III Goalie of the Year. Garabo is now a two-time IWLCA All-American in addition to being a two-time first-team IWLCA All-Metro region pick. Garabo was also named the MAC All-Commonwealth Goalie of the Year for the second consecutive year. For the year, Garabo was 14-7 with an 8.53 goals against average and a .513 save percentage. For her career, Garabo has played 3,179:34 in net for York with a 7.51 goals against average and a .528 save percentage. She owns a career record of 42-15.