The NCAA lacrosse season is just about over as 18 teams take their shot at accomplishing their season goal of winning a National Championship. Before the tournament starts though, the finalists for the Tewaaraton Award will be announced. A couple of weeks ago the Tewaaraton Foundation named their 28 nominees for the trophy and the full list is below.
Niko Amato, Maryland—Sr., G
Wesley Berg, Denver—Jr., A
Connor Buczek, Cornell—Jr., M
Mike Chanenchuk, Maryland—Sr., M
Deemer Class, Duke—Soph., M
Mark Cockerton, Virginia—Sr., A
Joe Fletcher, Loyola—Sr., D
John Glesener, Army—Jr., A
Myles Jones, Duke—Soph., M
Matt Kavanagh, Notre Dame—Soph., A
Jesse King, Ohio State—Jr., M
John LoCascio, Villanova—Sr., LSM/D
Kevin Massa, Bryant—Jr., F/O
Kieran McArdle, St. John’s—Sr., A
Ben McIntosh, Drexel—Sr., M
Scott McWilliams, Virginia—Sr., D
Jeremy Noble, Denver—Sr., M
Nikko Pontrello, Loyola—Jr., A
Kevin Rice, Syracuse—Jr., A
Joey Sankey, North Carolina—Jr., A
Tom Schreiber, Princeton—Sr., M
Randy Staats, Syracuse—Jr., A/M
Wells Stanwick, Hopkins—Jr., A
Lyle Thompson, Albany—Jr., A
Miles Thompson, Albany—Sr., A
Gunnar Waldt, Bryant—Soph., G
Justin Ward, Loyola—Sr., A
Jordan Wolf, Duke—Sr., A
With all those names in mind, which of the 28 nominees will be chosen as the five finalists? Here is the prediction.
Kevin Rice, A, Syracuse
Rice has really come on as of late for the Syracuse Orange. Coincidentally, this is also when the Orange won seven of their last eight games of the season. Since their blow out loss to Duke, Rice has tallied four points once and scored at least six points in every other game! This includes wins over Cornell, Duke, Notre Dame twice and North Carolina. In the ACC Tournament, Rice tallied four goals and 11 assists!
Rice has catapulted himself up the points standings and ranks fifth in the nation with 76 points. He also ranks third in the nation with 43 assists. With Syracuse as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and him being the best player, he sneaks in as the last candidate for the Tewaaraton Award.
Justin Ward, A, Loyola
Simply put, Ward is the best player on the No. 1 ranked team according to the polls. Ward has been that way the entire year and is the catalyst for this offense. He ranks eighth in the nation in points with 72 and second in the nation in assists with 55. Ward has also never been shut down by any of the nation’s top long poles as his lowest point total has been three points.
Ward also saves his best performances for the Hounds biggest game. In Loyola’s key wins over Johns Hopkins, Duke and Lehigh twice he registered three four-point games against the Blue Jays and twice against Lehigh as well as five points in the win over Duke.
Jordan Wolf, A, Duke
It was no coincidence that when the Blue Devils went on their eight game winning streak, Wolf started to rack up the points. During their winning streak, Wolf earned 44 of his 80 points. That winning streak also included wins over North Carolina, Harvard, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Virginia. Wolf ranks third in the nation in points with 80 and second in goals scored with 51.
Wolf had five points in the ACC semifinal loss to Syracuse and followed it up with eight points against Boston in a game that was closer than you would expect. Wolf is one of the quickest players in the game and is a goal scoring machine but has the capability to be a feeder as well. Wolf will be the go-to guy for Duke as it hopes to defend its national championship.
Miles Thompson, A, Albany
I’m sure that I am not the only one running out of adjectives to describe the play of Miles and Lyle Thompson. In the America East Tournament, Thompson tallied back-to-back nine-point games! He scored 14 goals and handed out four assists combined! On the season, he ranks second in the nation in points with 100. He also isn’t allergic to finding the back of the net as he leads the nation in goals scored with 76. For comparison, the next closest is Jordan Wolf with 51!
Thompson is the best goal scorer in the game and is a sure delight to watch on TV or live. With his 100th point of the season, Miles and Lyle became the first set of teammates to both record 100 points in a single season.
Lyle Thompson, A, Albany
The leader in the clubhouse, especially after this weekend’s performance in the America East Tournament. He was starting to slip because of the fact that Albany was a threat to miss the NCAA Tournament. However, he tallied back-to-back eight-point games to propel the Great Danes to the NCAA Tournament. He leads the nation in points with 114 and is now tied for the all-time single season point mark in the history of the game. He will definitely break the record in their next game against Loyola. Furthermore, he leads the nation with 69 assists. The next closest is Justin Ward with 55.
Thompson has been described by many as the closest comparison to Gary Gait and it is well deserved. Hopefully, we get to see more than one game from him but it will be a tough task against Joe Fletcher and the Loyola Greyhounds. Regardless, Thompson is the leader in the clubhouse for the Tewaaraton Award.
