WASHINGTON – The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced University at Albany attackman Lyle Thompson, University at Albany attackman Miles Thompson, and University of Maryland midfielder Taylor Cummings as the winners of the 14th annual Tewaaraton Award, presented Thursday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The Tewaaraton Award annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse players in the United States.
A Tewaaraton Award finalist for the second consecutive year, Albany attackman Lyle Thompson led the nation with 77 assists and 128 points. The junior from Onondaga Nation, New York, surpassed Steve Marohl’s 22-year single-season Division I points record (114, 1992) and matched Marohl’s single-season assists mark (77, 1992). He quarterbacked Albany’s top-ranked offense to the NCAA quarterfinals, becoming the only Division I player ever to record two 100-point seasons (113, 2013). He received the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award for Outstanding Player of the Year, and his second consecutive USILA Lt. Col. J.L. (Jack) Turnbull Award for Outstanding Attackman. He also collected USILA All-America first team, America East Player of the Year and first team All-America East honors for the second year in a row. Lyle joined brother Miles as the first brother duo to be named Tewaaraton finalists in the same year.
Part of perhaps the most prolific attack combination in NCAA history, Miles Thompson ranked first in the nation in goals with 82. He too exceeded Marohl’s single-season scoring record and trails only his brother Lyle for the Division I record with 119 points. The senior from Onondaga Nation, New York, played his way to first team All-America East honors for a second consecutive season and earned America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. The first team USILA All-America honoree recorded four or more points in 17 of 18 games this season as Albany advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. His 82 goals matched Yale’s Jon Reese (1990) for the all-time single-season record, and his 293 career points rank tenth all-time.
This year marks the first time the Tewaaraton Award has been given to two recipients in the same year. Lyle and Miles are Albany’s first Tewaaraton Award winners, and the second winners from the America East Conference, following Doug Shanahan (Hofstra, 2001). Lyle and Miles Thompson are the sixth set of teammates to be named finalists in the same season for the award, most recently following Syracuse University's John Galloway and Joel White (2011).
"The Tewaaraton Award is built on a mission to celebrate excellence in the game, recognize the game's Native American heritage and to give back in a meaningful way to the Native American community,” said Jeffrey T. Harvey, chairman of the Tewaaraton Foundation. “We are also committed to a set of values that brings honor to the game today and to the heritage of the sport. First and foremost, we are proud to recognize these worthy players, the first Native American recipients of the Award.”
“As this is unprecedented, we note that the Selection Committees are made up of the 10 active coaches and are overseen by a chairperson. It was determined by the committee to have these two individuals share the game's top award. Their vote was unanimous. We applaud the committee for their commitment to the true purpose of The Tewaaraton Award as it is profoundly meaningful that these two record-breaking players — teammates, brothers and members of the Onondaga Nation — are symbolic of the game, its heritage and its future."
The five men’s finalists were Loyola University defenseman Joe Fletcher, Princeton University midfielder Tom Schreiber, Lyle Thompson, Miles Thompson and Duke University attackman Jordan Wolf.
Two-way midfielder Taylor Cummings led Maryland with 63 goals, 128 draw controls, 37 ground balls and 30 caused turnovers and ranked second on the Terps’ fourth-ranked offense with 24 assists and 87 points. The sophomore from Ellicott City, Maryland, and U.S. Women’s National Team member earned her second Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-America first team and first team All-ACC honors. She was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team as Maryland captured its sixth consecutive conference title, and was selected NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player as the Terps captured their 12th national title with a 15-12 victory over Syracuse.
Cummings is Maryland’s fifth Tewaaraton winner, joining Jen Adams (2001), Caitlyn McFadden (2010), and Katie Schwarzmann (2012, 2013), and the seventh winner from the Atlantic Coast Conference. She is also the first women’s sophomore to win the Tewaaraton Award. Maryland players have won four of the last five women’s Tewaaraton Awards.
“We’re thrilled to honor Taylor as the first sophomore to win the women’s Tewaaraton Award,” said Sarah Aschenbach, executive director of the Tewaaraton Foundation. “The fact that four of the five finalists, including Taylor, competed in the national title game is a testament to the tremendous work of our selection committee and we congratulate all five finalists on their record-setting seasons.”
The five women’s finalists were Cummings, University of Maryland defender Megan Douty, University of Florida midfielder Shannon Gilroy, Syracuse University attacker Alyssa Murray and Syracuse University attacker Kayla Treanor.
Finalists were selected from a pool of 28 men’s and 27 women’s nominees. The selection committees are comprised of 11 men’s and 11 women’s current and former college coaches.
For more information on the Tewaaraton Award, visit tewaaraton.com. Like and follow The Tewaaraton Foundation at facebook.com/tewaaraton and twitter.com/tewaaraton.
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