WASHINGTON – Georgetown University Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Ricky Fried was the 2018-19 recipient of the Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial Award Thursday evening at the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) 2019 Annual Meeting at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.  The IWLCA recognized all of its yearly award winners at the banquet.
 
The Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial Award is the IWLCA's marquee honor.  The award is named in honor of the legendary Loyola coach whose courageous battle with cancer inspired the nation and recognizes lifetime achievement to the women's college game. Ohio State University head coach Amy Bokker, who served as an assistant coach with Fried in the US National Team program, presented the award to her colleague. 
 
"Receiving the Diane Geppi-Aikens Lifetime Achievement award is a bit surreal and extremely humbling for me," said Fried. "Diane is an icon in our game, and I had the pleasure of knowing her and learning from her. Diane represented the best in coaching; she was supremely competitive, loved by her players and colleagues alike but never took herself too seriously. I hope to embody many of the same traits in my own way."
 
Fried has coached 15 seasons on the Hilltop with an overall record of 163-113 and an 83-20 record in BIG EAST regular season games. During the 2014 season, he became the winningest coach in program history.  Under Fried, Georgetown has earned seven BIG EAST regular season titles, made seven trips to the BIG EAST Championship Game, winning in 2010 and 2019, and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament nine times, reaching the quarterfinals twice.
 
Fried has coached 23 All-Americans as well as the National Goalie of the Year, two BIG EAST Attackers of the Year, three Midfielders of the Year and five Defensive Players of the Year to go along with 86 All-BIG EAST first and second team selections. Additionally, he and his staff have won BIG EAST Staff of the Year on two occasions.
 
Prior to Georgetown, Fried was an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins University for nine seasons. While at the school, Fried served as the recruiting coordinator and helped build Hopkins in to a Division I Top 20 program after aiding in the transition from a strong D-III program.
 
A 1988 graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Fried was an All-America midfielder for the Retrievers lacrosse team. As a senior, he served as team captain, was named the team's Most Valuable Player and earned the team's Leadership Award. He was named to UMBC's All-Time Team in 1990.
 
Fried arrived at Hopkins following a two-year stint as an assistant coach at the Gilman School and serving a season as an assistant at his alma mater. He also played professionally with the Philadelphia Wings from 1989-92 and 1997 and the Baltimore Thunder from 1993-94.
 
Fried currently serves as the IWLCA Vice-President and has previously served as Treasurer. He has been actively involved in the All-American committee, currently serving as chair of the Division I South Region and is a member of the Tewaaraton Award selection committee. Fried was the head coach of the US National Team from 2009-2017 and led the squad to back-to-back World Cup gold medals in 2013 and 2017.