UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's lacrosse team earned two spots on the IWLCA West/Midwest All-Region teams on Wednesday. Sophomore midfielder Olivia Dirks was named First Team All-Region while graduate attacker Maria Auth was tabbed Second Team All-Region. Penn State has 56 All-Region selections since 2005, including 38 First Team honorees.
As the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year, Dirks recorded 31 goals, 12 assists, 25 ground balls, 78 draw controls and 18 caused turnovers in 2021. She led the Nittany Lions in draws and caused turnovers, while finishing second in points and goals.
Dirks was an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-America Third Team selection and a First Team All-Big Ten honoree. She was a member of the Tewaaraton Award nominees list. Dirks was a two-time Big Ten Midfielder of the Week (3/16, 4/20) and was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on February 23. She won IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week on February 23 for her performance in leading Penn State to a win over No. 7 Maryland.
The Pennsylvania native had 10 multi-point performances this season. She had a career-high nine points at Rutgers (4/15) with five goals and four assists, both career bests. She also tallied six points, with five goals and an assist, against Maryland (2/21) and six points, with four goals and two assists, against Michigan (3/21).
The sophomore made a major impact in the draw circle this season, including four games with 10 or more draws. She had a career-best 14 at Northwestern on March 13. Dirks also had 12 against Rutgers (2/14) and 10 each against Northwestern (3/11) and Rutgers (4/15). She also had five games with multiple caused turnovers, including four against Maryland (2/21) and three against Michigan (3/21).
Dirks led the Big Ten and ranked 19th in the nation averaging 6.0 draw controls per game. She was also fifth in the Big Ten in caused turnovers per game (1.38), 10th in goals per game (2.38) and ninth in free-position goals per game (0.62).
Auth was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection, collecting a team-best 46 points and 34 goals to go with 12 assists, 10 ground balls, 11 draws and three caused turnovers.
The Maryland native finished her Penn State career ranking seventh all-time with 226 points, sixth all-time with 160 goals and 11th all-time with 60 assists. She recorded 46 career multi-point games, including 16 with five or more points. Auth tallied her 200th career point against Michigan on March 21.
Auth had 12 multi-point games and nine multi-goal games this season. She had a season-high eight points, including five goals and the game-winning goal, against Michigan. Auth tallied a career-best seven goals at Rutgers (4/15). She also had four goals and an assist in each game against Rutgers (2/14) and Northwestern (3/11).
She ranked 10th in the Big Ten in goals (34) and seventh in goals per game (2.62). Auth also sat ninth in the conference in points per game (3.54), while holding seventh in free-position goals per game (0.69).
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Missy Doherty, are 4-9 this season with wins over Rutgers (20-11), No. 7 Maryland (15-13), No. 13 Michigan (13-12) and No. 9 Maryland (16-9).
Joining Auth and Dirks as All-Big Ten selections were midfielder Kristin O'Neill and defender Sammy Helgeson on Second Team. O'Neill was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
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