We’re about a month and a half into the season, and there’s already some talk about who will win this year’s Tewaaraton Award as the best player in lacrosse. Here’s a short update on ten guys, in no particular order, that have a very good chance at winning the award:
- Jimmy Bitter (A), UNC
Bitter has 40 points (18 G, 22 A) on the year so far, good for 2nd in the nation. He’s also part of a very talented and explosive Tar Heel offense that’s 2nd in the nation in goals per game. UNC won’t have any more games that they can breeze by opponents however. This stretch will show how talented Bitter and the rest of the Heels are.
- Ryan Brown (A), Johns Hopkins
One of Hopkins’s bright spots so far this year has been Brown and the attack unit. Brown, along with Stanwick brothers Wells and Shack, has created instant chemistry, as seen last Saturday against Syracuse. After Virginia Saturday, the Big Ten league schedule is next with tough games against Ohio State and Maryland.
- Connor Cannizzaro (M), Denver
We saw some of Cannizzaro last year at Maryland, and he looks better than he did at College Park. The sophomore leads the Pios with 29 points (17 G, 12 A) and has helped bolster the Denver offense this season. How will he fare with Big East playing beginning in two weeks?
- Matt Donovan (M), Cornell
Donovan and the rest of the Big Red haven’t had a lot of coverage so far this year, except when they lost to Syracuse and Virginia. Donovan leads the Big Red with 28 points (22G, 6 A) and has chemistry with Connor Buczek, who is also on the Tewaaraton Watch List. In a wide open Ivy League, Donovan could show that he is the most important player to his team by leading the Big Red to an Ivy League Championship.
- John Glesener (A), Army
Not a lot of talk about Glesener lately either. He hasn’t been racking up a ton of goals either for the Black Knights, but his shot is one of the fastest in all of college lacrosse. A very promising start hasn’t gone so well, as Army has lost two consecutive Patriot League games (Holy Cross, Loyola). Hopefully, Glesener and Army can get back on track with a date with Lehigh.
- Myles Jones (M), Duke
Jones is a freak of an athlete, and right now, he’s my favorite to win the Tewaaraton. He’s the leader in points and there hasn’t been a single defender to stop him so far this year. He’s a talented player on a very talented team. Duke travels to the Carrier Dome to play Syracuse on Sunday in what could be a possible ACC or NCAA Championship preview.
- Matt Kavanagh (A), Notre Dame
Another tough cookie to stop resides in South Bend. Kavanagh was the main component in Notre Dame’s ACC Championship and Championship Weekend runs last year, and is doing so again. He’s also got middie Sergio Perkovic and talented freshman attackman Mikey Wynne as well to support him. The Irish have Ohio State Saturday before hosting Syracuse the week after.
- Dylan Molloy (A), Brown
A newcomer that wasn’t on the original Tewaaraton Watch List has emerged as a key player in the success of Brown’s new and explosive offense. He’s tied for the lead in goals with UNC’s Luke Goldstock, and has done an outstanding job to execute Sean Kirwan’s offense that helped make Tufts a National Champion in Division III last year. The Bears suffered a small setback in an OT loss to Bucknell on Tuesday, but they hope to get back on track just in time to continue Ivy League play.
- Kevin Rice (A), Syracuse
Rice is the quarterback for Syracuse’s balanced attack. Rice has 28 points (11 G, 17 A) on the year, just two more than fellow attackmen Dylan Donahue and Randy Staats, who both have 26 points on the year. They haven’t missed a step yet as the Orange schedule starts to kick up in intensity. They host Duke Sunday before traveling to take on Notre Dame next Saturday.
- Lyle Thompson (A), Albany
Last year’s co-Tewaaraton Award winner (along with graduated brother Miles) suffered a tough start to his 2015 campaign, as he left early in Albany’s first game against Drexel about a month ago. But Saturday’s performance against American East rival Stony Brook in a pivotal conference game showed that he shouldn’t be counted out of the race, as he scored twice and assisted on ten other goals in a 17-15 victory. They play Hartford, Harvard, UMass Lowell, and Syracuse in a span of 12 days.
