University Park, Pa. — Former Penn State women’s lacrosse standout Mary McCarthy Stefano will be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame as part of its 2010 class. She will be honored along with seven other men and women for their contributions to the sport of lacrosse.
The 2010 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame class will be inducted in a ceremony on Sat., Oct. 30 at The Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley, Md. McCarthy Stefano is the seventh Nittany Lion women’s lacrosse player or coach to receive the prestigious honor, following in the footsteps of Candace Finn Rocha (1998), Susan Delaney-Scheetz (2000), Betsy Williams Dougherty (2000), Julie Williams (2002), Barb Jordan (2004), and Gillian Rattray (2005).
A 1987 graduate of Penn State, McCarthy Stefano first made her mark on the lacrosse world at Moorestown High School in New Jersey, where she was a member of the All-South Jersey Team and part of the New Jersey state championship team in 1983. At Penn State, as the team captain in her senior season of 1987, McCarthy Stefano led the Nittany Lions to a 17-2 record and their first NCAA Championship and fourth overall national title. A three-time first team All-American (1985-87), she was a part of teams that compiled an impressive 59-10 record over the course of her career. Also a four-year letterwinner on the Penn State field hockey team, McCarthy Stefano received NFCHA First Team All-America honors in 1985 and 1986.
McCarthy Stefano went on to play for the Philadelphia Club Lacrosse team for 10 years and later was the recipient of the 1994 Beth Allen Award, an honor presented to a member of the US Lacrosse Women’s Division who excels on the field and represents her team and country in a positive fashion at the National Tournament. On the international level, she was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, First Team (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991), Reserve Team (1986, 1987, 1992), the U.S. World Cup Team (1989, 1993) and the U.S. Touring Team (1987, 1992). McCarthy Stefano was inducted into the US Lacrosse New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997.
A program of US Lacrosse, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame was established in 1957 to honor men and women, past and present, who by their deeds as players, coaches, officials and/or contributors, and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to our way of life. More than 350 lacrosse greats are honored in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which is located with the Lacrosse Museum at US Lacrosse Headquarters in Baltimore.