NMU’s Josie Lakosky named Offensive Player of the Year; Lorinser also on the First Team
ALLENDALE, Mich. — The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Association (GLIAC) has announced its 2026 GLIAC Women’s Lacrosse Postseason honors, highlighted by Josie Lakosky earning Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Lakosky earned the major award to go with a spot on the first team, along with fellow attacker Avery Lorinser. Midfielder Taylor Roberts, defender Natalie Thomas, and goalkeeper Lauren Esposito earned Second-Team honors, and defender Sophie Langsdale and midfielder Katelyn Wozney landed on the Honorable Mention squad.
Josie Lakosky has earned GLIAC Attacker of the Year for the second consecutive season thanks to an explosive junior campaign. A native of Victoria, Minnesota, Lakosky (96-36–132) has proven to be the best goal scorer in the DII lacrosse landscape all season long, as she paces the nation in goals, goals per game (5.65), points, points per game (7.76), and shots on goal (162). Lakosky is also second in the nation in shots (193), shots per game (11.35), and shots on goal per game (9.53). When dialing the stats back to the eight GLIAC matches only, Lakosky leads the conference in nearly every category: goals (52), G/G (6.50), points (73), PTS/G (9.13), assists (21), A/G (2.63), shots (100), S/G (12.50), draw controls (56), DC/G (7.00), caused turnovers (19), and CT/G (2.38).
Lakosky has earned five GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors and back-to-back IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week honors during weeks eight and nine of the season, after scoring eight goals and three assists for 11 points in one game, followed up by 14 goals and five assists for 19 points in two games the following weekend. Lakoky then followed that up with a 10-goal and 15-point outing against Saginaw Valley, where she set the NMU single-game record in goals and points. Lakosky’s 2026 campaign and legacy will forever be engraved at NMU. Josie has set NMU career-bests in shots on goal, ground balls, and caused turnovers; has broken every single-season Wildcat statistical record; is on pace to become the first 100-goal scorer in Wildcat history; and is just nine goals away from matching Minnie Bittell’s 219 career goal record in nearly 20 fewer games played.
Avery Lorinser had a breakout campaign as a junior, earning All-GLIAC First Team honors after not having received any postseason awards prior. A native of Stillwater, Minnesota, Lorinser has solidified herself as a dangerous attacking threat on the Wildcat attack, as she has smashed career-bests in goals (40), assists (10), and points (50) to be second on the team in scoring. Lorinser ended the regular season with a career-best five goals against Concordia-St. Paul, and scored three or more goals on eight separate occasions. During conference play, Lorinser finished third in the GLIAC in goals (23) and goals per game (2.88), fourth in points (27) and points per game (3.38), and fourth in shots (53) and shots per game (6.63).
Midfielder Taylor Roberts earned her spot on the All-GLIAC Second Team as a faceoff specialist, as she was third in the GLIAC in draw controls (35) and fourth in DC/G (4.38) during conference play. Overall, Roberts amassed 60 draw controls and averaged 3.53 per game, both fourth in the GLIAC. This is the sophomore’s first conference honor of her career.
Defender Natalie Thomas was one of the most important pieces of the Wildcat defense this season, as she was sixth in the GLIAC in overall caused turnovers (25) and CT/G (1.47). During conference play, Thomas recorded 13 CT and averaged 1.63 per game, numbers that were fifth in the GLIAC. This marks the second All-GLIAC honor in the junior’s collegiate career, earning Second-Team selections in 2024 and 2026.
Goalkeeper Lauren Esposito has had a memorable 2026, as she set NMU career wins and games-started records while matching the program-record 330 saves and 50 games played. In conference matchups, Esposito is second in GA/AVG (6.17) and SV% (.533), and earned GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week after matching a career-best 13 saves and a .650 SV% in the regular-season finale against Concordia-St. Paul. Esposito was an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention in 2024 and now adds All-GLIAC Second-Team to her resume.
Defender Sophie Langsdale and Midfielder Katelyn Wozney rounded out the All-GLIAC honors. Langsdale, a junior from Rochester, Minnesota, played one-two punch with Thomas on defense, as her overall caused turnovers (24) and ground ball (28) numbers were neck and neck with Thomas. Wozney, a sophomore from Elk River, Minnesota, played an important role in the draw-control scheme that helped the Wildcats pace the conference in draw controls, as she was third to only Lakosky and Roberts in that category while adding significant caused turnover and ground ball production.
