NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – Northern Michigan lacrosse senior defender Lauryn Rygiel has been selected to the Midwest All-Region First Team, announced by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) on Wednesday. 

Rygiel is the first Wildcat to be named to the All-Region team in the history of the program. She is the program's all-time leader in caused turnovers (63), second in ground balls (78), and third in draw controls (131).

The South Lyon, Michigan native is coming off honors of the top defender in the GLIAC, winning the Defender of the Year award in the conference to go along with All-GLIAC First Team recognition in each of the last three seasons. 

She started in all 18 games for the Wildcats this season and played a critical part in the NMU defensive core. Rygiel helped lead Northern to a program-record 11 wins and was a pivotal component in a back-and-forth battle at Grand Valley in the GLIAC Championship. In regular season conference matchups, she caused 10 turnovers to pace the GLIAC. 

In total, the IWLCA has honored 128 student-athletes in Division II with a selection to one of the All-Region teams for 2023. Each student-athlete is now eligible to be named to a national IWLCA All-American team. The IWLCA will announce the 2023 All-American teams on May 18.

The full release from the IWLCA can be found here.