CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame freshman midfielder Maura Irish and Pitt junior midfielder Kaitlyn Giandonato shared Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Clemson freshman defender Teagan Scott and Notre Dame freshman goalkeeper Ceci Patterson notched ACC Defensive Player of the Week laurels for games played from February 9-15.
Nine ACC women’s lacrosse teams are ranked among the top 25 teams in the latest IWLCA poll, the most among all conferences. North Carolina tops the poll again this week and is followed by No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 Boston College, No. 8 Clemson, No. 13 Syracuse, No. 20 Duke, No. 24 Virginia and No. 25 Pitt. The Panthers earned their first national ranking in program history.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK – Maura Irish, Fr., M, Notre Dame (Berwyn, Pennsylvania)
• Helped guide the Irish to two ranked wins with a win at No. 3 Boston College on Friday and at No. 25 Harvard on Sunday as the Fighting Irish improved to 4-0 on the season with three ranked wins under their belt.
• Finished the weekend with three goals, five assists and eight points, and also totaled seven draw controls as well as four ground balls and five caused turnovers.
• Finished with two goals and two assists for a career-best four points and four draw controls in the 12-9 win at No. 3 Boston College.
• Recorded a goal and career highs of three assists, four ground balls and four caused turnovers in the 10-7 win at No. 25 Harvard.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK – Kaitlyn Giandonato, Jr., M, Pitt (Malvern, Pennsylvania)
• Scored four goals and added two assists for six points as the Panthers topped No. 13 Duke, 17-10.
• The win over the Blue Devils was the highest ranked win in Pitt program history.
• Also added three ground balls, a draw control and four caused turnovers.
• Two of the goals were highlights of the night: one with Giandonato faking a pass to a teammate to confuse two Blue Devil defenders before dashing to the net for the score and another where she sent a defender to the ground with a stop-and-start before scoring a backhand shovel goal.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK – Teagan Scott, Fr., D, Clemson (Charleston, South Carolina)
• Recorded 13 caused turnovers last week, with three against Furman and 10 against Stanford.
• Scott's 10 caused turnovers versus the Cardinal set the Clemson single-game record, as she became the first player to reach double-digit caused turnovers.
• She also picked up five ground balls across the two games.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK – Ceci Patterson, Fr., GK, Notre Dame (New Canaan, Connecticut)
• Finished the weekend with 15 saves, holding two ranked opponents to an average of just eight goals a game.
• Recorded a career-high 11 saves in the come-from-behind win at No. 3 Boston College, with three saves in the fourth quarter as her defensive efforts helped hold BC scoreless in the final stanza, where the Irish outscored the Eagles 6-0.
• Added four saves in the 10-7 victory at No. 25 Harvard.
• Patterson is now tied for first in the ACC with 24 saves this season.
2026 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week
Feb. 10 – Darcy Felter, Sr., A, North Carolina
Feb. 17 – Maura Irish, Fr., M, Notre Dame; Kaitlyn Giandonato, Jr., M, Pitt
2026 ACC Women’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week
Feb. 10 – Uma Kowalski, Fr., M, Notre Dame
Feb. 17 – Teagan Scott, Fr., D, Clemson; Ceci Patterson, Fr., GK, Notre Dame