MICHAELA HARDY

BALTIMORE, Md. – The University of New Hampshire women’s lacrosse team was named one of 50 programs in Division I to earn Academic Squad honors from the Intercollegaite Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association, the IWLCA announced Monday. Michaela Hardy (Reading, Mass.) and Sarah Von Bargen (East Setauket, N.Y.), both juniors on the 2008 Wildcat squad, were among the 159 student-athletes named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.

Hardy, one of five IWLCA/U.S. Lacrosse All-America selections on the Academic Honor Roll, was honored earlier this year as the 2008 America East Women’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete in recognition of her excellence both on the field and in the classroom.

Hardy, a psychology major who started all 19 games, ranked 30th in the nation in goals per game (2.74), 54th in points (59) and 58th in caused turnover per game (1.37). She led America East in both goals per game (3.67) and caused turnovers per game (1.50); in addition, she was sixth in points per game (3.83). Hardy was the team leader in goals (52), points (59) and caused turnovers (26); the 52 goals is eighth on UNH’s list of single-season superlatives. She also tied for fourth in both assists (seven) and ground balls (24).

As a junior midfielder for the Wildcats in the 2008 season, Hardy earned IWLCA/U.S. Lacrosse All-America Third Team accolades. Her other honors included womenslacrosse.com All-America Second Team, IWLCA/U.S. Lacrosse Northeast Region First Team, America East All-Conference First Team, America East All-Academic Team, America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll and America East Defender of the Week (twice).

SARAH VON BARGEN

Von Bargen, a junior attack, was the Wildcat leader in points per game (3.12) with 50 points in 16 games; overall, she ranked second in goals (41) and points (50) as well as third in both assists (nine) and draw controls (22). In America East conference games, she ranked third in goals per game (3.17), fourth in points per game (4.00) and eighth in assists per game (0.83). Von Bargen ended the year with a 12-game goal-scoring streak and she scored a goal in 15 of 16 games with 14 multiple-goal games. She was the team’s top point producer in the postseason with 11 points (10g, 1a) in three games.

Von Bargen was also named to the IWLCA/U.S. Lacrosse Northeast Region Second Team and her league honors included All-Conference First Team, All-Academic Team, Commissioner’s Honor Roll and All-Championship Team.

Teams with a collective grade-point-average of 3.0 or higher earned the distinction of Academic Squad. UNH was one of five America East conference schools to receive the honor. The honored student-athletes must have achieved at least junior year status and compiled a minimum GPA of 3.20.

New Hampshire advanced to the 2008 NCAA tournament and finished with 13 wins (second-highest win total in the program’s 32-year history). The Wildcats peaked at No. 13 in the national rankings, the highest since 1992.