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Each year, we at US Lacrosse Magazine pore over the top coaches, players, games, performances, breakthroughs and moments for the annual “Best of Lacrosse” edition. Naturally, this retrospective tome drops in December. 

But now is the time to be heard.

Over the next two weeks, we’re polling fans on Twitter (@USLacrosseMag) to vote on four finalists in 10 categories: Best Men’s Coach, Best Women’s Coach, Best Men’s Player, Best Women’s Player, Best Game, Best Men’s Performance, Best Women’s Performance, Best Men’s Breakthrough, Best Women’s Breakthrough and Best Moment.

Today, we present our four finalists for Best Women’s Coach of 2017: Ricky Fried (Team USA), Cathy Reese (Maryland), Cindy Timchal (Navy) and Acacia Walker (Boston College).

One could easily make the case for several other candidates.

In just its fourth season, Colorado coach Ann Elliott led the Buffs to the NCAA tournament after defeating Northwestern in overtime, setting records and earning a spot in national polls for the first time in program history.

Under coach Joe Spallina, in a year when the Seawolves lost one of their top players, Courtney Murphy, to injury, Stony Brook played the eventual national champion Maryland to just one goal in the NCAA quarterfinal, the closest any opponent came to dethroning the undefeated Terps.

In Division II, Adelphi won its third title in four years with Pat McCabe at the helm, avenging its 2016 NCAA championship loss to Florida Southern.

In Division III, coach Carol Cantele became just the fourth women’s lacrosse coach in NCAA history to reach 400 wins en route to Gettysburg’s second national crown in its first appearance in the title game since 2011.

Plus, internationally, England coach Phil Collier returned his country to the medal stand for the first time since 2005, as the English earned bronze in their upset over Australia.

Alas, Twitter limits us to just 140 characters and four poll options. More on this year’s finalists for Best Women’s Coach:

Ricky Fried
Team USA

In his final year as the head coach of the U.S. women’s national team, coach Ricky Fried was charged with succeeding at two world tournaments – first at the FIL Women’s World Cup in Guildford, England, and then the IWGA World Games in Wroclaw, Poland. He led Team USA to an undefeated record at both, returning home with two gold medals that were won within one week of each other. The Americans proved their dominance, winning their 12 games spanning both events by a combined score of 198-56. Their gold medal at the World Cup was their eighth overall and third straight, led by All-World team members Ally Carey, Taylor Cummings, Megan Douty, Jen Russell, Kayla Treanor, Michelle Tumolo and Devon Wills.

Cathy Reese
Maryland

Rebounding from its loss to North Carolina in the 2016 NCAA final, Maryland was crowned the national champion for the third time in four years under Cathy Reese, who has coached the past six Tewaaraton winners, including 2017 recipient Zoe Stukenberg. Maryland also won its second straight Big Ten crown in the Terps' fifth undefeated season in program history, their first since 2001. The national championship win over Boston College, when sophomore Caroline Steele tied the NCAA title game record for goals, marked Reese's fourth NCAA title at the helm of the program, and 11th overall as a player, assistant and head coach for Maryland.

Cindy Timchal
Navy

Navy, the 2017 Cinderella team, made history in coach Cindy Timchal’s 10th season as the program’s head coach. Despite the Greyhounds being favored, having topped Navy by four during the regular season, the Midshipmen stunned Loyola with a 15-5 Patriot League championship win to earn their fifth NCAA tournament bid in program history. With a one-goal win over Penn in the first round, Navy cruised to the final four, defeating UMass by 12 and upsetting the reigning champion North Carolina by two, the latter being its first-ever quarterfinal appearance. Navy then became the first women’s team from a service academy to advance to the NCAA final four, placing two players, Kelly Larkin and Julia Collins, on the all-tournament team. 

Acacia Walker
Boston College

Acacia Walker led Boston College to its best season in program history during a year where the Eagles were expected to rebuild since graduating a Tewaaraton finalist. After handling Canisius in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Eagles upset Syracuse and USC before coming from behind to defeat Cinderella team Navy. They then reached their first-ever NCAA championship game, despite losing to Maryland 16-13. Boston College attacker Kenzie Kent was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player with 37 points, a new tournament record, including 10 in the final. Kent was the first player to earn the honor from a team that did not win the championship.