Feb. 17, 2005

WASHINGTON - George Mason University's Meg Dentler (Crofton, Md./Arundel) was among 32 women's lacrosse players honored by the Tewaaraton Award Foundation as a 2005 preseason "player to watch," the organization announced Tuesday (Feb. 15). The list will be voted upon by coaches and narrowed as the season progresses, ultimately reaching a final list of 5 women who constitute the award's finalists.

A senior goalkeeper for the Patriots, Dentler has received numerous honors since joining the Circle as a freshman in 2002, including being named a second team All-American by the US Lacrosse/Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) as a junior. She is a two-time first-team all-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) selection and garnered the CAA Rookie of the Year award as a freshman.

Dentler enters 2005 as a senior captain and ranks first in the George Mason record books for saves (656) and save percentage (57.7 percent). She has started 51 of 52 games played and owns a 9.80 career goals-against average.

The Tewaaraton Award Foundation, in conjunction with The University Club of Washington, D.C., formally established the "Tewaaraton Trophy" on August 29, 2000. Today, the Tewaaraton Trophy is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the top female and male varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States. Simply, it is the lacrosse equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

With the inaugural presentation being held at the University Club of Washington, DC in June of 2001, the Tewaaraton Trophy is now presented annually following the collegiate season at a banquet honoring the finalists and winners. The Foundation honors lacrosse, the original and oldest American sport, through the Tewaaraton name and by promoting the game through the award.

The Foundation also announced three new participants to the Tewaaraton Women's Selection Committee for spring 2005. Among the new members was George Mason women's lacrosse head coach Amy Umbach, who enters her eighth season with the Patriots and is the winningest coach in the program's 11-year history with 54 victories.

George Mason's women's lacrosse team is picked to finish third in the 2005 Colonial Athletic Association, according a preseason poll of the league's eight head coaches. The Patriots are ranked in the top 20 in two national preseason lacrosse pools.

Please visit the Tewaaraton Foundation Web site for more information on the other players selected to the "watch list."