Diomede Earns NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Honors; Five Cardinals Named All-NESCAC

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan women's lacrosse team was well represented on the NESCAC awards announcement as five Cardinals were named All-NESCAC while senior midfielder

Lindsey Diomede '26 became the first Cardinal in team history to earn NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. The five All-NESCAC honorees is tied for the most in a single-season in team history, matching the five honorees from the 2024 season.

Representing Wesleyan on the All-NESCAC First Team is Diomede, senior defender

Molly Simon '26, and senior goalkeeper

Izzy Weintraub '26. Making the All-NESCAC Second Team is senior attack

Addie Cummings '26 and senior midfielder

Bridget Horst '26. This is the first career All-NESCAC nod for Diomede, Simon, Cummings, and Horst while Weintraub makes All-NESCAC for the third time in her career.

Lindsey Diomede '26 | Senior | Midfield | NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year | First Team

In what is the 11

th year of the NESCAC awarding a Defensive Player of the Year award, Diomede makes history as she becomes the first-ever Cardinal to be recognized as either a NESCAC Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year.

A steady presence at midfield all throughout her career as a Cardinal, Diomede broke out this season with single-season team records in caused turnovers (61) and ground balls (55). She has blown past the previous single-season records, eclipsing Erin Trotta's 38 caused turnovers from the 2023 season while Diomede bested Allegra Grant's 48 ground balls from 2018. Diomede leads the NESCAC in both ground balls per game (3.06) and caused turnovers per game (3.39). Her 3.39 caused turnovers per game puts her 10

th nationally among all players in Division III. She also leads the team with 50 draw controls and has eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 18 games played (all starts).

Diomede has at least one caused turnover in every game this season while she has at least two CTs in 15-of-18 contests in 2026 and has six games with 5+ CTs. She tied the single-game team record, posting eight caused turnovers to go along with six ground balls and four draw controls against Williams on April 18.

Izzy Weintraub '26 | Senior | Goalkeeper | First Team

Weintraub makes history, becoming the first Cardinal goalkeeper in team history to earn three career All-NESCAC honors. Previously named to the First Team in 2024 and Second Team in 2025, Weintraub is a two-time First Teamer and three-time All-NESCAC goalkeeper.

The senior standout heads into the NCAA Tournament enjoying another terrific season in cage, sporting a career-best 6.12 goals against average with 106 saves and a .505 save percentage with a 15-3 record. Weintraub has allowed six goals or less in 11-of-18 starts this season while she has three double-digit save performances. One of those 10+ save outings was arguably one of the best individual performances turned in by a Cardinal goalkeeper in recent memory as she totaled 12 saves, allowing just three goals on 17 shots faced, in a 11-3 win over Williams on April 18.

Weintraub thrives against the nation's best, as she posted a .542 save percentage over a six-game stretch from April 1 through April 18, with all six of those games coming against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. She just reached 400 career saves, heading into the weekend with 411 saves in 75 career appearances.

Molly Simon '26 | Senior | Defense | First Team

Continuing a long line of recent standout defenders for Wesleyan, Simon earns a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team, becoming just the fourth different Cardinal defender to make All-NESCAC First Team in program history. A steady year-in, year-out contributor on defense, Simon has started all 59 possible games since the start of her sophomore year and has produced 26 ground balls this year to go along with a single-season career-high 29 caused turnovers heading into the NCAA Tournament.

A key force for the Cardinal defense, which ranks second in the NESCAC and 15

th-best nationally in goals allowed per game (6.17), Simon shined in the regular season against Tufts, posting a career-high five caused turnovers and two ground balls. She also forced four turnovers in games against Williams (April 25) and Colby (March 14).

Addie Cummings '26 | Senior | Attack | Second Team

A player that has excelled over the last two years, Cummings worked her way into lineup with a 31-goal season in 2025 and has thrived in 2026 as the Cardinals' leader in points (53) and goals (39) while she ranks second on the team in assists (14). Cummings played in just 11 games, recording one goal, across her first two years at Wesleyan, but has thrived when given the chance as she has 91 points in 38 games over the last two seasons heading into the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

Cummings has at least one point in 17-of-18 games this year while she has seven hat tricks and 11 multi-goal games in 2026. She posted six goals and three assists for nine points in a home win over MIT on March 29, recording the first nine-point game by a Cardinal in at least 16 seasons. Cummings also had a five-goal game with two assists, either scoring or assisting on seven of the Cardinals' 10 goals scored against Tufts on April 11.

Bridget Horst '26 | Senior | Midfield | Second Team

The third Horst sister to earn All-NESCAC honors at Wesleyan, Bridget makes All-NESCAC for the first time while enjoying a standout senior year with multiple single-season career-highs. The do-everything midfielder contributes on draws, defense, and offense for the Cardinals as she has 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points to go along with 23 ground balls, 23 caused turnovers, and 37 draw controls. She already has career-high totals in goals, assists, points, ground balls, and caused turnovers while she is the all-time leader in draw controls at Wesleyan with 246.

Horst has at least one point in 15-of-18 games this season while she's started all 18 possible games this year, continuing a workhorse role as she's missed just one game over the course of her four-year career at Wesleyan. She scored twice in wins over Bowdoin and William Smith while she added two assists in the Bowdoin win for a career-high four-point game. Horst provided four ground balls and four caused turnovers against Colby on March 14.

Wesleyan heads into the NCAA Tournament this weekend as the Cardinals are set to make their eighth consecutive appearance. The Cardinals will host First and Second Round action this weekend on Smith Field with Wesleyan set to meet the winner of Colby vs. Cortland on Sunday at 1 PM