📝 TEWAARATON CUT-DOWN TAKEAWAYS

The list of Tewaaraton Award hopefuls shrunk by about 65 percent on Thursday, as the organization’s official Watch Lists were cut down to just 25 men’s and 25 women’s nominees.

Here’s an updated look at who is still up for the award:

We could see repeat winners on both the men’s and women’s side this year. Duke’s Brennan O’Neill and Northwestern’s Izzy Scane are each a dominant postseason run away from going back-to-back.

On the men’s side, the Tewaaraton Award Watch List stood at 73 names before it was pared down to 25 nominees. Keep scrolling through this newsletter for more on those who made the cut — and some who didn’t.

💪 The 11 Attackmen

It’s no secret: The Tewaaraton Award is typically given to the best attackman in the country. Since the award was established in 2001, it has only gone to a non-attackman four times: Doug Shanahan (Hofstra midfielder, 2001), Chris Rotelli (Virginia midfielder, 2003), Kyle Harrison (Hopkins midfielder, 2005) and Ned Crotty (Duke midfielder, 2010).

Could Albany long stick midfielder Jake Piseno or one of the five goalies on the list end up among the finalists? Sure, but their chances of winning the award are razor thin.

The current list of men’s nominees includes 11 attackmen. All four of the returning finalists from last year — Duke’s Brennan O’Neill, Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger, Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh and Cornell’s CJ Kirst — are still in the race. It’s safe to say these four are the front-runners.

The other seven attackmen are Yale’s Matt Brandau, Harvard’s Sam King, Princeton’s Coulter Mackesy, Penn State’s TJ Malone, Syracuse’s Joey Spallina, Richmond’s Dalton Young and Duke’s Josh Zawada.

The player to watch in this pack is Brandau. He’s a familiar name, and he’s stacking a ridiculous amount of points this season. After dropping 29 points in the past three games, he now leads the country with 86 points on the season — that’s 10 more than the next closest player.

Brandau has either scored or assisted 43.4% of his team’s goals so far in 2024. If he is able to lead Yale on a deep postseason run and keep up his eye-popping level of production along the way, he could jump to the top of the Tewaaraton Award race in the final month of action.

🍊 The Lone Sophomore

Most of the 25 men’s nominees for this year’s Tewaaraton Award are seniors, super-seniors and graduate students. There are a handful of juniors on the list and only one sophomore: Syracuse attackman Joey Spallina.

Spallina deserves a ton of credit for cracking this list so early in his career. Although he is currently a long shot to win the award, he is undeniably living up to the heavy expectations that came with being the No. 1 recruit in high school and wearing the revered No. 22 jersey at Syracuse.

Until Matt Brandau’s recent point explosion, Spallina was pacing the country in total points. He now ranks second with 76, but for the second year in a row he is leading a Syracuse team that is clearly on the rise. The Orange are 10-4 on the season, ranked in the top 10 and look like a surefire NCAA Tournament team.

If Spallina can now work his way into the Tewaaraton Award finalist conversation, that will be huge for his momentum heading into the back half of his college career. He’ll be considered among the favorites to win the award in 2025 and 2026.

✂️ The Biggest Snubs

The Tewaaraton Award cut-down conversation wouldn’t be complete without talking about a few snubs. The most notable name being tossed around here is Virginia attackman Payton Cormier, who wasn’t even included on the Watch List despite leading the nation in goals per game (3.67) and approaching the all-time NCAA record for career goals.

Cornell’s Michael Long and Notre Dame’s Chris Kavanagh are two interesting cases as well. They have the unfortunate disadvantage of playing on the same attack line as a returning finalist from last year. Long, however, has more points than CJ Kirst on the season, and Chris is neck-and-neck with his brother Pat.

Lastly, North Carolina’s Owen Duffy deserves some recognition. It’s rare for a freshman to work his way into the Tewaaraton Award conversation, but he has averaged 4.5 points per game this season and is carrying his team.

Final thought: Why bother adding a handful of Division II and III names during the first- and second-round of Watch List additions if they’re always cut when they release the 25 Tewaaraton Award nominees? Kind of pointless…

📺 Weekend TV & Streaming Info

NCAA streaming info courtesy of Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Friday, April 19:
6 p.m. — Penn State at Rutgers (Big Ten Network)
7 p.m. — Loyola at Navy (CBS Sports Network)
7 p.m. — Albany at Yale (ESPN+)
7:30 p.m. — Army at Bucknell (ESPN+)
7:30 — Le Moyne at Lafayette (ESPN+)

Saturday, April 20:
11 a.m. — Sacred Heart at Canisius (ESPN+)
11 a.m. — Mercer at Queens (ESPN+)
11:30 a.m. — North Carolina at Notre Dame (ACC Network)
12 p.m. — Detroit Mercy at Bellarmine (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Bryant at Binghamton (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Boston U at Lehigh (CBS Sports Network)
12 p.m. — Utah at Cleveland State (No Streaming Info)
12 p.m. — Harvard at Cornell (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Denver at Providence (FloSports)
12 p.m. — St John’s at Georgetown (FloSports)
12 p.m. — High Point at Hobart (Hobart All-Access)
12 p.m. — Marist at VMI (No Streaming Info)
12 p.m. — Monmouth at Towson (FloSports)
12 p.m. — NJIT at UMBC (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Richmond at UMass (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — St. Bonaventure at St. Joe’s (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Jacksonville at Air Force (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Dartmouth at Brown (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Delaware at Drexel (FloSports)
1 p.m. — Stony Brook at Fairfield (Stags Sports Network)
1 p.m. — Hampton at Hofstra (FloSports)
1 p.m. — Villanova at Marquette (FloSports)
2 p.m. — Quinnipiac at LIU (ESPN+)
2 pm. — Virginia at Syracuse (ESPNU)
3 p.m. — Robert Morris at Lindenwood (ESPN+)
3 p.m. — Colgate at Holy Cross (ESPN+)
4 p.m. — Maryland at Johns Hopkins (ESPNU)
4 p.m. — Wagner at Manhattan (ESPN+)
4 p.m. — Siena at Mount St. Mary’s (ESPN+)
5 p.m. — Penn at Princeton (ESPN+)
5 p.m. — Vermont at UMass Lowell (No Streaming Info)
7 p.m. — Michigan at Ohio State (Big Ten Network)

Sunday, April 21:
1 p.m. — Albany at Merrimack (ESPN+)