UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State women’s lacrosse legend Candy Finn Rocha was named a Tewaaraton Legends Award winner on Friday night in Washington, D.C., as announced by the Tewaaraton Foundation. The award honors players whose collegiate careers ended prior to 2001, when the Tewaaraton Award was presented to the best in his or her sport. Finn Rocha is the first woman to receive the award.
“We’re excited that such a great player in Candace Finn Rocha will go down as the first-ever female Tewaaraton Legend,” said Chairman of Tewaaraton Foundation Jeff Harvey.
“Candace Finn Rocha was an exceptionally talented lacrosse player whose stick skills, grace and flair were unmatched,” said former Penn State head coach Susan Delaney-Scheetz. “She is one of Penn State’s most highly decorated student-athletes, whose career, records and honors make her a worthy recipient of the Legends Award.”
A 1998 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee, Finn Rocha won national championships in lacrosse for Penn State in 1979 and 1980. She was a four-time All-American and led the team in scoring each year. Rocha left Penn State as the all-time leader in goals (265) and points (334) and currently sits second in both categories to this day.
In 1981, Finn Rocha had arguably her most impressive season by scoring 76 goals in only 15 games, an exhausting 5.07 goals per game. Her 76 goals as a junior is still a record. In 1980, Finn Rocha set the school record for goals in a game with 14 during a win over East Stroudsburg. She pitched in three assists in that game for a 17-point game.
Finn Rocha’s remains the record holder for goals per game in a career (4.56) and scored in every game in which she played, finishing her career with a 58-game scoring streak.
Finn Rocha the recipient of the Broderick Award as the collegiate player of the year in 1981 and 1982. During the course of 1980 and 1981, she played for the U.S. national team and on the World Cup teams in 1982 and 1986. During the 1982 season she became an assistant coach at Penn State and eventually moved on to coach girls lacrosse at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut as well as Lawrence Academy, Brooks School and Berkshire School, all in Massachusetts.
Finn Rocha will receive her award along with fellow Tewaaraton Legend Frank Urso of Maryland on June 2 in Washington, D.C. There are now seven honorees of Tewaaraton Legends and three of them are now part of the current Big Ten Lacrosse world: Finn Rocha, Urso and Johns Hopkins’ Joe Cowan.