Offseason Winner: The ACC

David Vick — August 12, 2021 — Opinion Piece

It has been an eventful summer for women’s lacrosse and specifically, the ACC. Fans of the conference have witnessed big name transfers, head coaching hires and top players deciding to return for another season.

The reigning Tewaaraton winner, Charlotte North, made an early offseason announcement that she would be returning to Boston College. Other than that, it has been a quiet offseason for her, but probably not for her newly hired agent.

Hiring agents and signing sponsorship deals has been in the news for all sports this summer. It has been a very profitable few months for athletes. That includes players in the ACC.

Barstool Sports made the biggest splash into the lacrosse world by signing a huge amount of women’s lacrosse players, headlined by Scottie Rose Growney of North Carolina.

While players are winning off the field, the ACC is still winning on it, despite games not being played.

The conference has held its status as the top conference in the sport during the offseason.

In a sign of the times, First Team IWLCA All-American, Olivia Dirks, left the Big 10 for North Carolina. Joining Dirks in Chapel Hill is Andie Aldave, the former Notre Dame star, and Sam Geiersbach, a recent Tewaaraton Watch List player for Richmond.

The conference’s top teams were not the only ones making the lacrosse world take notice during the summer months.

Pittsburgh and Clemson also made headlines and generated excitement.

The Pittsburgh Panthers became the go-to transfer destination. Their newest additions include longtime conference star, Paige Petty, and standout goalie Paulina Difatta from Elon.

For the Clemson Tigers, they hired Allison Kwolek from Richmond, in a move that adds another top-tier coach to an already stacked conference.

What does all this mean? It means the ACC will once again be the most exciting conference to watch in 2022.