📈 TEWAARATON RACE UPDATE

Now that we are officially two months into the 2024 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse season, it’s time to update the Tewaaraton Award race.

In this newsletter, we will power rank the top five contenders for the award. All four of the returning finalists from last year will be highlighted. We’ll also throw in three “Wild Card” candidates who could get deeper into the mix in April and May.

The full Tewaaraton Award watch list, including first- and second-round additions, can be found here. Keep scrolling to see our top-five candidates…

1️⃣ Brennan O’Neill, Duke

Duke attackman Brennan O’Neill is still the favorite to win the 2024 Tewaaraton Award. With 57 points through the first 12 games of the season, O’Neill could become the first two-time winner since Albany’s Lyle Thompson (2014-15).

O’Neill has been under the microscope this season, and he did underperform in Duke’s two losses. He went 1-for-8 shooting against Penn on March 1, then went 1-for-11 shooting against Syracuse on March 20.

After both of those performances, however, O’Neill bounced back strong in the next game. Two days after the Penn loss, he dropped four points in a dominant win over Princeton. In the two games since the Syracuse loss, he has recorded a pair of hat tricks in quality wins over Denver and Boston University.

O’Neill will continue to be scrutinized for the regular-season matchups in which he came up short, but Duke is poised to make a deep postseason run. If the Blue Devils make it to Championship Weekend, his pure scoring volume over the course of the entire season will be tough to argue against.

2️⃣ Pat Kavanagh, Notre Dame

Pat Kavanagh might be the best player on the best team, but the Notre Dame attackman and two-time Tewaaraton Finalist has not done enough to narrow the gap between him and O’Neill just yet.

The biggest hurdle for Kavanagh to overcome in the final two months of the season is his lagging goals total. He has only scored nine goals through the first seven games of the season, whereas O’Neill already has 36.

Kavanagh’s role in Notre Dame’s offense won’t help him catch up to O’Neill. He’s more of a facilitator than a goal-scorer, and that is reflected by his 23 assists this season. His ground balls (16) and caused turnovers (8) on the ride are crucial to the team’s success, but are they impressive enough to make up for the difference in his and O’Neill’s respective goal totals?

For Kavanagh to win Tewaaraton, he must carry Notre Dame back to another National Championship and may also need Duke to make an early round exit in the NCAA Tournament.

3️⃣ CJ Kirst, Cornell

Cornell attackman CJ Kirst has been the most consistent goal scorer in the Tewaaraton race this season. He’s averaging 3.38 goals per game in 2024, which ranks 4th in the country behind a trio of crease finishers (Payton Cormier, Justin Tiernan and Jake Taylor).

Kirst is much more than a crease finisher. He’s a complete attackman and one of the most versatile dodgers in college lacrosse. His production level is on par with Brennan O’Neill, as both players are averaging exactly 3.75 points per game.

The problem with Kirst is his team can’t be trusted to make a deep run in the playoffs. Although Kirst has dropped a total of nine goals in Cornell’s three losses this season, his team’s 5-3 record right now is a Big Red flag when it comes to the Tewaaraton race.

Although he is already producing at an elite level, Kirst will have to put the team on his back and prove that he can carry Cornell through the Ivy League gauntlet and beyond.

4️⃣ Connor Shellenberger, Virginia

Virginia attackman Connor Shellenberger has been steady this season, but not explosive enough to generate more momentum in the Tewaaraton Award race.

Shellenberger will have to play the long game. He already broke Virginia’s all-time career points record this season, and his overall body of work in 2024 is sure to rank near the top of college lacrosse by season’s end. He’s averaging 4.8 points per game, and that rate won’t slow down as the competition gets tougher.

Shellenberger does a good job orchestrating and sharing the spotlight in the most selfless offense in Division I. The Cavaliers average 10.4 assisted goals per game as a team, which leads the country. It isn’t a surprise that we are still waiting for him to produce a Tewaaraton moment.

For Shellenberger, the path to winning this award is simple: Keep working and be the last man standing on Memorial Day weekend.

5️⃣ Liam Entenmann, Notre Dame

The Tewaaraton Award has never gone to a goalie before — let alone a defensive player — but Notre Dame’s Liam Entenmann is making a case for himself this season. If Pat Kavanagh isn’t the most valuable player on Notre Dame’s roster, then it’s definitely Entenmann.

Entenmann’s save percentage (.534) will not blow you away, but he is allowing less than 10 goals per game and Notre Dame’s defense is one of the stingiest in all of college lacrosse. He also has a knack for making the highlight save — like his diving stop against Syracuse that was No. 1 on SportsCenter.

Entenmann has a very narrow and specific path to the Tewaaraton award. While guys like Shellenberger and Kirst would benefit from O’Neill making an early exit, Entenmann’s case would be strongest if Notre Dame and Duke meet again in the National Championship. If Entenmann stuffs O’Neill and the Irish repeat as National Champions thanks to their defense, I could see him becoming the first goalie to win the award.

👀 The Wild Card Candidates

Jake Piseno, LSM, Albany: His team has a losing record, but Piseno is a novelty as future PLL long pole who literally does everything (even man-up offense) for the Great Danes.

Joey Spallina, A, Syracuse: Spallina is only a sophomore, but he’s still leading the country in total points (63).

Matt Brandau, A, Yale: Brandau has been around forever, and he’s currently averaging 6.5 points per game (most in D1).

📺 Weekend TV & Streaming Info

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

Tuesday, April 2:
7 p.m. — Syracuse at Cornell (ESPN+)
7 p.m. — Lehigh at Princeton (ESPN+)