With over 60 players named to the Tewaaraton Watch List throughout the season, the award is not lacking from a great group of talent across the lacrosse world. However, it seems to be that there is no clear cut Tewaaraton favorite this season. Lyle Thompson and Tom Schreiber may be putting up the points but their teams are likely to not even make the postseason. So does that mean that guys like Jordan Wolf and Justin Ward should jump ahead of them?
For the purpose of this article, I will break it down into these categories: the favorites, the dark horses and the long shots based on the following criteria:
- Statistics—Pretty obvious, is he putting up the stats to be on the list?
- Team—How has his team played this season, aka what is their record? A guy could be putting up big numbers but if his team is 2-10 he can’t be on this list or be ahead of someone else with slightly worse statistics.
- Strength of schedule—Could probably lump this together with No. 2 but if the team is 8-2 but has played one Top 20 team the entire season and the player has 40 points, then he is less significant than a player who has 35-40 points for a 7-2 team that has three wins over Top 20 opponents. My apologies to Siena attackman Richie Hurley who has 61 points on the season for a 8-5 Siena team. However, their wins have come against Hobart, Binghamton, Hartford, Marist, Monmouth and Canisius.
- How important is he to the team? Think of it this way, if you replaced him with an average player at his position, would the team still be as successful as it is with him?
Has no chance but deserves recognition
Joseph Nardella, M/FO, Rutgers
Kevin Massa, M/FO, Bryant
I made this category up mainly because I think there are two guys who are putting up gaudy statistics that aren’t goals and assists.
To put it simply, Nardella and Massa have been other wordly on faceoffs. Massa leads the nation with a 70.6 faceoff percentage while Nardella sits at second as he wins 68.4 percent of his draws. Nardella gets the edge over Massa as he is a more complete player. Nardella has 13 points on the season while Massa has four. Also if you look at the faceoffs, Massa edges Nardella 202-195 in faceoff wins.
Bottomline, regardless of competition, both these guys are deserving of at least some recognition but honestly have no shot at winning the Tewaaraton because they are faceoff men. Just in case you didn’t know, the lacrosse world frowns upon faceoff men, and by that I mean Quint Kessenich.
Long Shots
Joe LoCascio, LSM, Villanova
Look at me giving some love to the defense! Let’s take a look at LoCascio. As I wrote in yesterday’s article for the website on how the MLL Draftees are doing, LoCascio is the most versatile pole in college right now.
He has 28 caused turnovers on the season, which is a far cry from the 54 he had last season but still ranks him in the Top 10 in the nation. What is more amazing is his offensive game. Not only does he have 16 points on the season!!!! but he also is on the team’s man-up unit! Yes you read that correctly, a long pole is on the man-up unit!
To quote James “Boobie” Miles’ uncle in Friday Night Lights, annnnnnd he can face off! Watch the clip and just sub in your lacrosse reference. This guy is going to be Mason Poli 2.0 in the professional game. If I’m wrong, well nothing really new there.
Wells Stanwick, A, Johns Hopkins
I want to make one thing clear. Before anyone starts calling for my head because other players have way more points than he does, let me explain myself. His point total of 51 ranks him at only No. 13 in the nation but let me point to a nice statistic here that goes a little bit outside the box.
In Johns Hopkins nine games this season, Stanwick had five and six points continually. During their three losses, Stanwick totaled seven points. The offense runs through him and is obviously the most successful when he is the guy making the decisions.
The two man game behind the net is so simple, yet so effective when he is involved. He is one of the best passers in the nation as evidenced by his 37 assists, good for No. 4 in the nation. In his last couple of games, which included a huge rivalry in over Maryland and a drubbing of lowly Mount Saint Mary’s, Stanwick recorded four and six points respectively. This guy deserves some consideration.
Mike Chanenchuk, M, Maryland
As an open supporter of the Maryland Terrapins, believe me when I say I struggled deeply with where to put Chanenchuk on the list. And what I mean when I say this is, I thought about it for a minute or so before I had to be objective.
Chanenchuk might be the most important player for Maryland. He is the leader on the team and the offense runs through him a majority of the time. Because I like looking at how players do every game, in case you haven’t yet noticed, every game Maryland won this year, Chanenchuk recorded three or more points including Maryland’s big win over the mighty Blue Devils where he went off for five goals and an assist. It is no coincidence then that when he only had a goal and an assist against North Carolina and when he couldn’t create anything on offense against Johns Hopkins, Maryland lost.
Chanenchuk can break down a defense despite being guarded by the long stick midfielder and has a rocket of a shot. He deserves to be in the conversation but won’t win it because attackmen rule the statistics. Also he has 44 points on the season, which for a midfielder ranks him right up there with Tom Schreiber and Connor Buczek.
Joe Fletcher, D, Loyola
Is he the best defender in college lacrosse? Yes. Is he playing for a good team? Check. Was he the only college player to make the Team USA roster? You betcha. So why isn’t he higher on the list? First, just like the Heisman Trophy in college football, the Tewaaraton is, and always will be, an offensive award.
Second, he gets hurt by being a great defender but not putting up eye-popping statistics. His 19 caused turnovers don’t blow you away but his 61 ground balls are far away the best on the team. The next closest is Nikko Pontrello with 34. To truly appreciate Fletcher, you have to see how well he does the little things on the field, which unfortunately doesn’t show up in the box score.
Also fans have to look at how he does against the opposition’s No. 1 attackman. He started off slowly against Virginia and Penn State as he allowed James Pannell and Shane Sturgis to combine for 11 points. However, he then redeemed himself by shutting down Duke’s Jordan Wolf by holding him to one point and being the leader for the nation’s No. 3 ranked defense.
Bottom line, this guy is the best defender in the country but is hurt by his position and the fact that he won’t put up 12 points in a season or isn’t a crazy takeaway defender like Villanova’s John LoCascio, something that the casual fan can quantify when they look at a box score.
Dark Horses
Kieran McArdle, A, St. Johns
When you look at the top players in the nation, McArdle is at the top of this list. To quote this guy, Kieran McArdle has put the team on his back, so much so that even the Atlas Statue has to drop the globe for a second and give him an applause.
Why so much praise for the Red Storm attackman? This season, he has notched 73 points on the season. That is 31 more points than the second closest guy on the roster! 31 points!
I think the more astonishing statistic is the fact that outside of the game against Drexel, he has recorded five or more points in every game this season! This past weekend he had three goals and four assists in an overtime victory over the Villanova Wildcats to keep the Red Storm’s Big East Tournament chances alive. Did I mention he had the game winner as well?
If I am praising him so much then why is he so low on the list? Well two things are hurting him. The combination of their strength of schedule and their record isn’t helping his cause. Coincidentally, the three losses for St. Johns have come against three Top 20 teams in Syracuse, Yale and Drexel.
Make no mistake though, McArdle can play and if he was on a better team, he would likely be getting more publicity and be higher on this list.
Justin Ward, A, Loyola
Plain and simple, Ward is the main man on this offense as everything goes through him. He is masterful at quarterbacking and shouldering the responsibility to share the wealth to his teammates. Nikko Pontrello’s success is directly correlated to Ward finding him in the right places and Pontrello doing the easy part of finishing. Ward is second in the nation in assists with 45.
He has the ability to score himself but since he draws the best defenseman on every team, he is delegated to more of a feeding role. He ranks seventh in the nation in points with 59 and Loyola is No. 1 in the nation. Finally, his lowest point total on the season is three, which has occurred three times. In the other 10 games they’ve played, he has four or more points for the Greyhounds. If he has big games in the Patriot League Tournament, Ward could rise even higher on this list.
Favorites
Miles Thompson, A, Albany
The thing that amazes me about these Thompson kids is how effortlessly they make playing lacrosse look. It seems they all have telekinesis and are just keeping it a secret from everyone. Either way, Miles is putting up monster numbers. I don’t know how much to attribute that to playing with Lyle and Ty Thompson or how much is his skill. Regardless, he has 83 points on the season. In any other year, he would be among the top two players on this list. Unfortunately, he plays with Lyle.
I think the craziest stat I can hit you with is the fact that his season opener saw him register a season low of four points. THAT’S HIS SEASON LOW! Every other game this season he has not gone below six points! The only other one that has seen him go below four points is their loss to Johns Hopkins where he had four points. Those statistics aren’t being put up against bad opponents either as he had monster efforts against Harvard, Bryant, Penn State, Drexel and UMASS.
Unfortunately, what hurts him is the fact that unless Albany wins the America East, which is no sure thing, then he can’t win the Tewaaraton. Plus, more of those statistics have started to come against bad opponents. He has put up 31 points in his last four games since Hopkins and they have come against Hartford, Stony Brook, UMBC and Siena.
Tommy Schreiber, M, Princeton
Look, I do not know if the Tewaaraton Award is supposed to represent the best player/statistics combination or the most important to their team. If we going by both, Schreiber is certainly in the top two players in the nation. Heck, he was the top overall pick in the MLL Draft for a reason! The thing that has been extremely impressive is the fact that he is the go-to player for Princeton as a midfielder and has put up 50 points this season. Did I mention that defenses put a long pole on him all the time and are quick to slide? Therefore, he sees double and sometimes even triple teams and he is still racking up points!
His combination of size, speed and a blazing shot is incredible to watch both on television and in person. He also became the fifth player in Ivy League history and first midfielder to score 100 goals and hand out 90 assists. He also has mountains of other records.
So why so low on the list considering what he sees and the lack of team around him? Well, that’s the only reason, and a big one. His team is 7-5 on the season and have lost one too many games in the Ivy League, especially this past weekend to Harvard. He went scoreless in arguably the biggest game of the season! Not only do the Tigers have no shot at competing for the conference championship but they are practically eliminated from the NCAA Tournament!
I don’t know if he can win the Tewaaraton because of all those factors. Tough call.
Jordan Wolf, A, Duke
Jordan Wolf is undoubtedly the No. 1 option for this Blue Devil team. He is the leader of the attack line and the guy who sets up everybody else while still getting himself his shots. He has 67 points on the season and has put up some big numbers during the team’s eight game winning streak.
One simple statistic should point out how vital he is to the team’s success. In Duke’s two losses he had a combined four points including registering only one point against Loyola. Conversely, in all 12 wins he has recorded three points or more including five points against UNC, eight against Syracuse, seven against Notre Dame, three against Virginia and eight this past weekend against Rutgers.
Finally, what really pushes him towards the top of this list is the the combination of being the most important player on the roster, the statistics to go with it and a team that will actually make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. If Duke wins the ACC Tournament and he has two big games, he could, COULD make a late push to take off our top dog on this list.
Top Dog
1. Lyle Thompson, A, Albany
Similar to what I said about Tommy Schreiber, if the Tewaaraton Award is supposed to represent the most important player to their team then Thompson probably would lose that argument because Albany still has the other two Thompsons on the roster. However, if we are going by the letter of the law of being the best player/statistics combination, then he is the clear leader in the clubhouse, to go with a golf term.
He leads the nation with 88 points and that is after a year in which he put up 113 points! Also unlike some of the other players with big point totals, he has done more by setting up his teammates than scoring. He has 57 assists which ranks first in the nation and has 31 goals on the season as well.
What is starting to hurt him though, is the possbility that Albany may not make the NCAA Tournament. Also people may look at that factor and bump a guy like Jordan Wolf ahead of him because Wolf has been doing it against better competition and putting up really good numbers against them.
Lastly, I don’t think I need to remind you of his spectacular vision and almost weekly appearance on any top plays list. You know what, I will remind of it because no one should have to go a day without seeing such a play.
