Grace Griffin
Biography
Personal: Griffin is one of five children in her family and earned bachelor’s degrees in kinesiology and sociology at Maryland. She also has a dog named Raina. Griffin lists Maryland head women’s lacrosse coach Cathy Reese and her club coach, Arvak Marshall, as people who have made a difference in her life. She has mentioned that she would be a surfer if she was not playing lacrosse and that she competed in many sports as a child, including soccer, field hockey, basketball, and cross country. Her hobbies include traveling, hiking, reading, playing pickleball, and cooking.
2023 Season: Griffin finished in 23rd place after earning 939 leaderboard points during the second Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse season. She was a starter in all 12 games and ranked 10th in the league with 254 stat points. Additionally, she tied for fifth place in league rankings with 23 ground balls and also ranked fifth with 16 caused turnovers. Notably, she netted a season-high two goals against Team Moreno in the Week Two finale and registered two assists on August 5 against Team Glynn. Griffin grabbed a season-high of five ground balls three times and collected a season-high of three draw controls against Team Moreno on July 22. Furthermore, she caused a season-high of three turnovers against Team Read in the Week One finale and posted three games with 100 or more leaderboard points, including a season-best of 149 points against Team Read in the Week Two opener.
2022 Season: Griffin accumulated 884 leaderboard points in her rookie season, starting 10 out of 12 games. Her standout performance came in Week Five against Team Glynn, where she scored four goals and provided an assist, earning 212 leaderboard points. She achieved 100 or more leaderboard points in five of the final seven games. Throughout the season, Griffin scored eight goals, assisted five times, scooped up 14 ground balls, and caused nine turnovers. Her first hat trick as a professional came on August 13, when she scored four goals against Team Glynn. In Week Three, she recorded a season-high four caused turnovers against Team Moreno, earning 127 leaderboard points.
At Maryland: Griffin played for the Terrapins for five years and started in 84 out of 89 games from 2018 to 2022. She made history as the first player in the program to serve as a team captain three times. Griffin's impressive stats at Maryland include 134 goals and 50 assists, along with 128 ground balls and 72 caused turnovers. She received All-Big Ten Conference honors three times, earning First Team recognition in 2021 and 2022. As a graduate student, she was selected as a Third-Team All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine. Griffin was also honored with the 2020-21 Big Ten Medal of Honor. During her senior season, she was named to the IWLCA All-America Third Team. In 2018, she was recognized as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Griffin's achievements also extend to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. In the 2022 season, she started all 21 games, scoring 28 goals and providing nine assists. In the 2021 season, she started all 17 games, ranking second on the team with 19 assists and 48 points. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Griffin primarily played as a defensive midfielder, starting all six games and scoring two goals with three assists. In 2019, she played a crucial role in leading the Terrapins to the NCAA Championship, starting 22 out of 23 games and scoring 45 goals, including a hat trick in the title game against Boston College. As a freshman, she started in 18 out of 22 games, tallying 30 goals and seven assists.