Emma Penczek Named USA Lacrosse High School Girls' Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year

Carroll County, Maryland has produced a bevy of incredible players. Emma Penczek is the latest and, the record-breaking numbers say, possibly the greatest.

Penczek has been named the USA Lacrosse High School Girls' Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year.

She has been a game-changer since day one for Manchester Valley, supplying the Mavericks with an assortment of goals, assists, draw controls and caused turnovers each of her four seasons. Manchester Valley has had three perfect seasons in program history; Penczek has been the headliner for two of them. This year was the second.

Penczek scored 89 goals, dished out 56 assists, corralled 124 draw controls and caused 39 turnovers in her senior season.

“She was able to not only make everyone around her better, but she was able to just help us find success everywhere,” Manchester Valley coach Shelly Brezicki said. “So if she wasn't scoring goals, she was assisting. If she wasn’t assisting, she was winning draw controls. If she wasn't winning draw controls, she was causing havoc on the defensive end. And I think that's what makes her unique — she really is strong in every aspect of the game, including her IQ of the game.”

The wins followed the do-everything midfielder. She paced Manchester Valley to its fifth Class 2A state championship and second in three seasons. The Mavericks finished 19-0 and had the highest goal differential of any team in the country to help earn the No. 4 ranking in the USA Lacrosse National Top 25 and the No. 1 ranking in the USA Lacrosse Public Top 25.

It’s the team’s success that matters most to her, but her name has secured a special spot in county lore as she continues her career at Clemson. Penczek surpassed U.S. Women's National Team midfielder Lizzie Colson for the program scoring record late in April. Then she passed the 15-year-old Carroll County career goals record of former Century (Md.) standout Katie Schwarzmann, who also starred for the U.S. team.

Penczek graduates with 329 goals and 158 assists for 487 points, 437 draw controls and 122 caused turnovers. Those are the best marks across each category for anyone who ever has played at Manchester Valley.

“Emma's the type of player that is good at everything on the field,” Brezicki said. “Oftentimes we find high school players that are really strong attackers or they're really good at defense or they're good on their draw circle. But Emma's just good at all of it.”

Manchester Valley is No. 3 in the final USA Lacrosse Mid-Atlantic Top 10 (annotated below). Penczek is one of three public school players on the USA Lacrosse All-Mid-Atlantic Team (listed below).

Players of the year, all-region teams and rankings are compiled by USA Lacrosse Magazine writers with input from coaches around the country.

This content is produced independently of the official USA Lacrosse High School Awards program that includes All-American and All-Academic honorees.

Our Mid-Atlantic rankings cover D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

All-MID-ATLANTIC Team

A Kate Dente Episcopal (Pa.)
A Ella Jane Ostrowski Archbishop Spalding (Md.) 
A Cayden Reese Maryvale (Md.) 
A Sophia Stoltz Stone Ridge (Md.)
M Sienna Chirieleison Trinity (Pa.)
M Caroline Chisholm Agnes Irwin (Pa.)
M Emma Penczek Manchester Valley (Md.) 
M Quinn Whitaker Episcopal (Pa.)
DS Leah Miller South Carroll (Md.)
D Mckenzie Brown McDonogh (Md.)
D Sofia Herrera St. Paul's (Md.) 
D Kit Laake McDonogh (Md.)
D Susannah O’Connell Summit (N.J.)
G Ella Davis Archbishop Spalding (Md.)

Mid-Atlantic TOP 10
(FINAL)

1. Episcopal (Pa.), 18-0

Tied at halftime with No. 7 Agnes Irwin (Pa.), the Churchwomen pitched a shutout in the second half on their way to a 6-3 win to cap an unbeaten season and claim the outright Inter-Ac championship. It’s their fifth straight Inter-Ac title. Episcopal held a 241-72 advantage in scoring against a schedule lined with talent. They had wins over Stone Ridge (Md.), Penn Charter (Pa.), Good Counsel (Md.), Potomac (Md.), McDonogh (Md.), Summit (N.J.) and IMG Academy (Fla.). They’ll have some big names to replace with Quinn Whitaker (62G, 16A), Maura Irish (29G, 7A), Kate Dente (34G, 28A), Grace Holland (43% save percentage) and Avery Le (12G, 9A) all graduating.

2. Maryvale (Md.), 13-5

The Lions came on strong down the stretch to win their first IAAM A Conference since 2002. Maryvale avenged two earlier losses to improvement when it counted the most. Maryvale was down, 5-4, before scoring the final three goals for a 7-5 win over Archbishop Spalding (Md.). The Lions had wins over Georgetown Visitation (D.C.), Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) and Good Counsel (Md.) before putting it all together in the final week of the year. 

3. Manchester Valley (Md.), 19-0

The Mavericks avenged last year’s state loss to Glenelg High with a 17-9 win for the Class 2A state championship to complete a perfect season. Manchester Valley had the largest average goal differential in the country at 9.84 after holding a 355-63 scoring edge over the season. The Mavericks defeated Severna Park (Md.), Class 1A finalists Middletown (Md.) and South Carroll (Md.), C. Milton Wright (Md.), Century (Md.) and Liberty (Md.). Manchester will graduate nine seniors that will play in college next year. Emma Penczek led the way with 89 goals, 56 assists, 124 draw controls and 39 caused turnovers, but she wasn’t the only reason they were good. Taylor Fique racked up 76 goals and 34 assists to go with 79 draw controls. Haylee Bittinger had 45 goals, 13 assists and 91 draw controls.

4. Archbishop Spalding (Md.), 13-5

The Cavaliers reached the IAAM A championship game despite losing two of their top players to season-ending injuries midway through the year. The Cavaliers also came on strong when it mattered the most, winning several close games down the stretch to try to play for their first conference crown. They opened the year with a win over St. Paul’s (Md.), and went on to top Manheim Township (Pa.), St. John’s College (D.C.), Maryvale and McDonogh (Md.).

5. McDonogh (Md.), 14-3

The Eagles earned the top seed in the IAAM A Conference after losing only once in conference during the regular season. Unfortunately their second conference loss came in the IAAM semifinals against Maryvale. Their only other loss came against Episcopal (Pa.) in an otherwise terrific season that began with wins in 13 of their first 14 games.

6. St. Paul's (Md.), 12-4

The Gators came into the season hoping to rebuild for a fourth straight IAAM championships, but came a step short of the title game. Third-seeded St. Paul’s lost, 10-9, to Archbishop Spalding in the semifinals to end their season. St. Paul’s had won six straight games leading into the semifinal loss. During the season, they defeated Stone Ridge (Md.), American Heritage-Delray (Fla.), Penn Charter (Pa.) and Maryvale.

7. Agnes Irwin (Pa.), 18-3

The top-seeded Owls concluded their season by winning the PAISAA championship, 9-4, over Academy of Notre Dame (Pa.). Agnes Irwin closed the season with wins in nine of their final 10 games. Their season was highlighted by wins over Manheim Township (Pa.), Good Counsel (Md.), Penn Charter (Pa.) and IMG Academy (Fla.). The Owls had four players with 40-plus goals, led by Boston College-bound Caroline Chisholm (51 goals, 90 draw controls).

8. Good Counsel (Md.), 18-3

The Falcons stormed out to a 12-2 halftime lead and earned their fourth straight WCAC championship with a 14-7 win over St. John’s College (D.C.) for their fourth straight WCAC crown. It was their 20th straight appearance in the title game. Annabelle Walsh led the team with four goals. The Falcons won 17 straight games to close the season. Among their wins this year were victories over Milton (Ga.), Georgetown Visitation (D.C.), Potomac (Va.), Bishop Ireton (Va.) and twice over St. John’s (D.C.).

9. Stone Ridge (Md.), 17-5

The Gators avenged two of their regular-season losses on their way to their third straight Independent School League championship. Stone Ridge followed up an overtime win in the semifinals with a 13-10 win over top-seeded St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (Va.) to end their season on a high note. They won their final six games after a loss to Potomac (Md.) on April 15. They also picked up wins this year over St. John’s College (D.C.), New Trier (Ill.), American Heritage-Delray (Fla.) and St. Anne’s-Belfield (Va.).

10. Summit (N.J.), 19-4

The Hilltoppers won their fourth straight state title, but like a lot of games this year it didn’t come easily. Parker Febo scored with one second left for a 6-5 win over Moorestown (N.J.) in the Group 3 state championship. Their last three state titles came at the Group 2 level. The win followed another fourth-quarter comeback to upend and avenge an earlier loss to Chatham (N.J.). The Summit wins were their sixth and seventh by a single goal this season that began with losses in two of their first five games. The Hilltoppers won their final 11 games. Yale commit Nell Ducey finished the year with 38 goals, 11 assists, 33 ground balls and 77 draws despite missing their first five games. Penn State-bound defender Susannah O’Connell had 25 ground balls and 31 caused turnovers. Parker Febo (George Washington) fired in 62 goals and had 71 draw controls.