The initial Tewaaraton Award watch list for the men’s and women’s award was released by the Tewaaraton Foundation this week. It includes two returning finalists on the women’s side (Madison Taylor and Chase Boyle) and a returning men’s finalist in CJ Kirst.
The award, moreso in recent years, typically goes to players at attack. Only one player has won it as a goalie, Maryland’s Megan Taylor in 2019, and one as a defender, Princeton’s Rachael Becker DeCecco (then Rachael Becker) for Princeton in 2003. On the men’s side four midfielders have won the award (Doug Shanahan, Chris Rotelli, Kyle Harrison, and Max Seibald), and every other winner has been an attackman. A breakdown of the men’s nominees, by the numbers.
By position, the nominees skew to attack as expected. There are 20 attackmen on the 50 player list. The next highest represented position is defenders, with 13 poles on the list including Salisbury’s John DeFazio as the only DIII player. Nine midfielders (including SSDMs) appear on the list. Seven goalies, including Adelphi’s Dylan Renner as the only DII player, are on the list. Army’s Will Colletti is the lone faceoff specialist.
By grade level, going by how players are listed on the roster, seniors are most represented as expected with 22 on the list. There are 12 players listed as either grad students, fifth years, or redshirt seniors. The list has nine juniors, and seven sophomores. The sophomore group has players at multiple positions. Defenders Ty Banks (Georgetown) and Shawn Lyght (Notre Dame) made the list; Lyght could be a Schmeisser winner this year. The sophomore attack group includes Owen Duffy (UNC), McCabe Millon (UVA), and Nate Kabiri (Princeton). Benn Johnston (Duke) is the lone sophomore midfielder, and netminder Cardin Stoller (Rutgers) is the seventh sophomore to make the cut.
By conference, the ACC leads the way with 14 players on the list. Notre Dame put four players on the list, Duke and Syracuse each had three, UVA and UNC each had two.
Next is the Ivy with 12 players. Yale, Cornell, and Princeton each had a trio on the list, Penn had two, and Sam King represented Harvard. The Big Ten had eight players. Penn State, Johns Hopkins, and Maryland each had a pair of players, Stoller represents Rutgers, and Ryan Cohen is on the list representing Michigan. The Big East and Patriot League have five players each on the Watch List. Georgetown with two, Ryan Bell made the list from Providence, Jimmy Freehill from Denver, and Matt Licata from Villanova. Patriot League is represented with a trio of players from West Point, Lehigh’s Richard Checo, and Colgate’s Max Yates. The CAA has a pair of players, Mikey Weisshaar (Towson) and Kevin Ellington (Delaware). The ASUN and A10 each put a player on the list, Ryan Stines (Utah) and Levi Verch (Saint Joseph’s) respectively.
For school representation, only the school the player is attending this year was counted. For example, Michael Gianforcaro counts for North Carolina, but not Princeton.
The full men’s watch list, alphabetically:
Ty Banks, Georgetown - Soph., Defense
Ryan Bell, Providence - Sr., Attack
Aidan Carroll, Georgetown - Grad. Student, Attack
Emmet Carroll, Penn - 5th year, Goalie
Richard Checo, Lehigh - Jr., Defense
Ryan Cohen, Michigan - Sr., Attack
William Coletti, Army West Point - Sr., Face Off
Matt Collison, Johns Hopkins - Jr., Midfield
John DeFazio, Salisbury - Grad. Student, Defense
Owen Duffy, North Carolina - Soph., Attack
Billy Dwan III, Syracuse - Jr., Defense
Kevin Ellington, Delaware - Grad. Student, Goalie
Braden Erksa, Maryland - Jr., Attack
Jack Fracyon, Penn State - Sr., Goalie
Jimmy Freehill, Denver - Sr., Defense
Michael Gianforcaro, North Carolina - Grad. Student, Goalie
Owen Hiltz, Syracuse - Redshirt Senior, Attack
Leo Johnson, Yale - Sr., Attack
Benn Johnston, Duke - Soph., Midfield
Nate Kabiri, Princeton - Soph., Attack
Chris Kavanagh, Notre Dame - Sr., Attack
Hugh Kelleher, Cornell - Sr., Midfield
Sam King, Harvard - Sr., Attack
CJ Kirst, Cornell - Sr., Attack
Brendan Lavelle, Penn - 5th year, Defense
Matt Licata, Villanova - Grad. Student, Attack
Michael Long, Cornell - Sr., Attack
Shawn Lyght, Notre Dame - Soph., Defense
Chris Lyons, Yale - Sr., Attack
Coulter Mackesy, Princeton - Sr., Attack
Aidan Maguire, Duke - Jr., SSDM
Andrew McAdorey, Duke - Sr., Midfield
Logan McNaney, Maryland - Grad. Student, Goalie
McCabe Millon, Virginia - Soph., Attack
Colin Mulshine, Princeton - Sr., Defense
AJ Pilate, Army West Point - Sr., Defense
Evan Plunkett, Army West Point - Jr., Midfield
Ben Ramsey, Notre Dame - Sr., SSDM
Dylan Renner, Adelphi - Grad. Student, Goalie
Brad Sharp, Yale - Sr., Midfield
Scott Smith, Johns Hopkins  - Grad. Student, Defense
Joey Spallina, Syracuse - Jr., Attack
Ryan Stines, Utah - Jr., Attack
Cardin Stoller, Rutgers - Soph., Goalie
Jake Taylor, Notre Dame - Grad. Student, Attack
Matt Traynor, Penn State - Sr., Attack
Levi Verch, St Joes - Sr., Defense
Ben Wayer, Virginia - Sr., Defense
Mikey Weisshaar, Towson - Jr., Midfield
Max Yates, Colgate - Sr., Defense