Last week we asked you who was the best of the best in every aspect of lacrosse. The results are in, and today we look at all of them.
MVP of Lacrosse- Cody Jamieson
Jamieson was a member of two championship teams in 2013, winning his second straight National Lacrosse League title with the Rochester Knighthawks and winning the Mann Cup with the Six Nations Chiefs. He was the MVP of the NLL Champions Cup when Rochester defeated the Washington Stealth. Jamieson was sixth in the NLL with 89 points and he had 29 points in the Mann Cup for the Chiefs.
Offensive Player of the Year- Shawn Evans
Evans led the NLL in points in 2013 and won the MVP of the league. He had 112 points for the Calgary Roughnecks, the top seed in the western division, and 80 of his points were assists. He had twelve more points than the next highest scorer, Garrett Billings of Toronto. He also had ten more assists than Billings, who was in second for that as well, along with being fifth in power play goals.
Defensive Player of the Year- Kyle Rubisch
Rubisch won the NLL’s defensive player of the year award. Since his rookie season in Boston in 2011, Rubisch has become a star defender in the NLL. He had 128 loose balls for the Rush and forced 44 turnovers. He also racked up 32 penalty minutes for Edmonton. Rubisch also had a good year with MLL’s Hamilton Nationals, which he led to a playoff appearance.
Goaltender of the Year- Matt Vinc
Vinc won his second straight title with the Knighthawks, won the NLL goalie of the year and led the Victoria Shamrocks to a Western Lacrosse Association title. His goaltender of the year title in 2013 was his second in his career. Vinc led the NLL in goals against average (qualifying players) with a 10.07 average. He added an .803 save percentage, also good for best in the league.
Box Lacrosse Player of the Year- Curtis Dickson
Dickson emerged as a star with the Calgary Roughnecks in 2013. He scored 62 points as he had his best season during his third year as a Roughneck. Dickson was part of a loaded offense that included Shawn Evans, Scott Ranger, Dane Dobbie and Jeff Shattler and he was one of the key components. 42 of his points were goals and he won three game MVPs.
Rookie of the Year- Mark Matthews
Matthews won the NLL rookie of the year and scored 38 goals for the all-time Edmonton Rush rookie record. Matthews was second on the team with 69 points, just behind Ryan Ward. He won four game MVPs for the Rush and shot 233 points to immediately become an offensive presence in their lineup.
Coach of the Year- Mike Hasen
Hasen led the Knighthawks to their second straight title. In the 2013 regular season, Hasen led the Knighthawks to an 8-8 record for the second best record in the eastern division. He also got Rochester to win two tight two-point games over Philadelphia and Minnesota to advance to the championship against Washington, where the Knighthawks won 11-10.
Comeback Player of the Year- Casey Powell
Powell came back from his MLL retirement to win an MLL title with the Bayhawks and he returned to the NLL, playing with Rochester before he was traded to Colorado. In six games with the Mammoth in 2013 Powell put up 32 points while the Mammoth fell in the first round of the playoffs to Calgary. With the MLL champion Bayhawks, Powell scored just six points in three games, but scored five times in two playoff games.
Breakout Player of the Year- Jordan MacIntosh
MacIntosh won the NLL transition player of the year and helped lead the Minnesota Swarm to the NLL eastern division final game. He scored 55 points in his second career season where he had four more points than his previous season. He was an offensive leader for a young Swarm team in his second season, and he also picked up 197 loose balls and had a 55% on faceoffs.
College Player of the Year- Rob Pannell
Pannell returned for a fifth year to the Big Red and won the Tewaaraton award. Pannell scored 102 points in 18 games with Cornell and led them to a final four appearance where they lost to the eventual champion Duke Blue Devils. 55 of his points were assists, and he scored two game winning goals to lead Cornell.
Executive of the Year- Curt Styres
Styres led the Knighthawks to their second straight championship. Styres has become a staple for the Rochester lacrosse community and has won two championships since buying the team in 2007, and he has signed most of the team’s star players to long term deals and he has made good trades (for Matt Vinc) and free agent signings (Mac Allen, Tyler Burton, Scott Campbell etc). However, he did lose his MLL team the Hamilton Nationals to Florida, but it is unknown if the speculated Hamilton team to return in 2015 will be owned by Styres.
Team of the Year- Rochester Knighthawks
The Knighthawks went back-to-back to win the NLL Champions Cup in 2013. So did the Chesapeake Bayhawks, which made for an interesting battle for the top team. The Knighthawks finished second in the east despite an average season at 8-8, but they pulled off three tough playoff wins to win their second straight title. The roster was stacked with talent that includes two players on this list (Jamieson and Vinc), and heading into 2014, they might be the favorites again.
