She is joined on the women’s lacrosse all-conference team by four more Golden Eagles!
The Big East announced the postseason awards for women’s lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon, and YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles were pretty well represented. The big news is Hanna Bodner picking up the Midfielder of the Year trophy to go with a unanimous selection as an All-Big East First Team Honoree. Bodner is the third straight Marquette player to win Midfielder OTY, following in the footsteps of Leigh Steiner and Lydia Foust the past two seasons.
Here’s how the league office wrote up Bodner’s award:
Marquette’s Bodner is the third consecutive Golden Eagle to be named BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year. She follows Leigh Steiner (2024) and Lydia Foust (2023). Bodner finished the regular season with 45 goals, 12 assists, a team-high 39 ground balls, a team-high 22 caused turnovers and 52 draw controls.
And here’s what the Marquette press release added:
Bodner, a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, was a four-time BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week this season to lead the conference. She registered career-highs in points (9), goals (8), assists (4), ground balls (6), draw controls (6) and caused turnovers this season (3). Bodner netted 45 goals, the seventh-most in a season in program history.
See, isn’t context on her goal total fun?
AND SPEAKING OF GOAL TOTALS……
isn’t that a fun transition?
Meg Bireley is Marquette’s other First Team honoree. She is currently — there’s still postseason lacrosse to get through — leading the Big East in goals per game at 3.94, nearly a full goal more than anyone else. Bireley is also leading the Big East in points per game at 4.94, more than half a point ahead of everyone else in the conference. Here’s how the Marquette press release wrote her up:
Bireley led the BIG EAST and is 12th in the nation with 63 goals on the season, six off the program record she set during the 2024 season. The senior is ninth nationally in goals per game, averaging 3.94 a contest. Bireley was a two-time BIG EAST Attacker of the Week and three-time weekly honor roll selection this season.
The Glenview, Illinois native became the first player in program history to score 200 goals and record 250 points this season. She is seventh among active players in career goals (207) and 13th in points (259).
AND SOMEHOW, there is a coach in the Big East not named Meredith Black — coaches can’t vote for their own players — who did NOT vote Bireley as one of the best players in the league. She is NOT a unanimous choice for the first team. 16 women earned First Team honors, six of them are attackers. At least one coach did not think Bireley is one of the six best attackers in the league.
For the sake of argument, here’s what the league office wrote about Denver’s Lauren Black, who was named Attacker of the Year over Bireley:
Black is the sixth consecutive Pioneer to earn Attacker of the Year. The senior finished the season with 49 goals during the regular season and finished tied for second in the conference for goals per game with 3.06. Black earned BIG EAST Attacker of the Week honors four times this season.
What are we doing here?
I get that Marquette did not qualify for the conference tournament, so maybe that’s disqualifying for Attacker of the Year, but SOMEHOW I don’t think that’s the fault of the woman who ranks ninth in the country in goals per game. Get it together out there, people.
ahem
Three Golden Eagles earned All-Big East Second Team Honors. Let’s go to the Marquette press release for their accolades this season.
First, Lauren Grady:
Grady earned second team honors after a breakout sophomore season. Grady was fourth on the team with 31 points on the season with 14 goals and 17 assists. She also contributed 28 draw controls and 14 caused turnovers. This marked Grady’s first BIG EAST postseason honor of her career after being named a BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week once this season.
And Tess Osburn:
Osburn earned second team honors for the second-straight season. The junior attacker scored 45 goals on the season, the seventh-most goals in a season in program history. Osburn had 64 points on the season including her 19 assists for the ninth-most points in a season in program history.
And Mary Velner:
Velner earned her first postseason honor of her career earning a spot on the second team. The sophomore defender led the Golden Eagle defense with 19 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls. Velner had a caused turnover in 11-of-16 games this season, including a career-high three in the win over UConn on April 12. Velner earned a spot on the BIG EAST weekly honor roll once this season.
You can check out the entire Big East press release on the awards right here.
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