NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. -- Continuing to haul in awards for her work last week, Christopher Newport women's lacrosse star Julia Iapicca has been named the IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week, which was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association.

The prestigious honor comes one day after she was celebrated as the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.

With the award, Iapicca becomes just the second player in program history to receive the national recognition. She joins current teammate Kelsey Winters, who was honored by the IWLCA on March 16, 2021.

Iapicca earned the award after orchestrating a fantastic run during Christopher Newport's first two games of the 2024 campaign. During her performance last week, the fifth-year phenom led the Captains with 10 goals. She also contributed a team-high six ground balls and five takeaways while notching four draw controls as well.

In the season-opening 12-10 win on Wednesday at No. 7 Washington & Lee, the reigning All-American picked up right where she left off last year. She dropped in four goals, all of which came in the final 30 minutes. As the Generals tried to overcome their halftime deficit, Iapicca pushed back with two straight strikes at the start of the third stanza before adding two more in the fourth, including the final nail with three minutes left in regulation.

Her four goals against W&L marked the most by a Captain against a top-10 foe since 2021.

Just three days later, Iapicca continued her award-winning week with another masterpiece during an 11-9 triumph against No. 16 Roanoke. Putting on a show at Jennings Family Stadium, she erupted for six goals while taking just seven shots. During a back-and-forth battle in the first half, the Frederick, Maryland native opened the scoring in the fourth minute, landed an equalizer in the 23rd, and deposited a man-up missile in the 28th.

After halftime, the Maroons regained a three-goal cushion entering the fourth quarter, but Iapicca headlined CNU's comeback with an electric effort over the final 15 minutes. Kicking off the late surge, she intercepted a pass at midfield and generated a one-person breakaway while sprinting past the entire Roanoke defense on the way to her first strike of the stanza.

Later in the period, she broke a 9-9 deadlock with seven minutes left in regulation after running a perfect give-and-go with Winters. Then, with just over two minutes remaining in the contest, she added the final exclamation point after breaking down a defender during a one-on-one situation to punctuate the come-from-behind victory.

Her six total goals against the Maroons equaled the second-most against a nationally-ranked opponent in program history and the highest total since CNU Hall of Famer Ashton Marshall deposited seven against No. 13 Mary Washington on February 16, 2013.

Along with her offensive efforts, Iapicca also collected four caused turnovers, four ground balls, and four draw controls against Roanoke. Coupled with her six strikes, she became the first Captain in school history to record at least four goals, four takeaways, four rollers, and four draws in a single game.

With her performance last week, Iapicca moved four goals away from becoming the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career tallies. A reigning second-team All-American, she was also celebrated as a first-team All-Conference, All-State, and All-Region selection in 2023.

Iapicca and the rest of her teammates will return to action on Wednesday when Christopher Newport hosts Randolph-Macon at 7 p.m.

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