Syracuse Lacrosse: Three SU players named to the Tewaaraton Trophy watch list

On Tuesday the Tewaaraton Foundation announced the first watch list of the season for the Tewaaraton Trophy. For those unaware, the Tewaaraton Trophy is the equivalent of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award in college hockey and the Heisman Trophy in college football. The Syracuse Orange had three players named to the list. In the past numerous SU players have been named to the watch lists but the Orange have not had a finalist since JoJo Marasco in 2013 although Dylan Donahue was one of the final 25 nominees in 2016. Keep in mind that the Foundation will most likely add players to the watch list in March if other players begin to stand out.

Syracuse Finalists (winners are in bold)

2013 – JoJo Marasco

2011 – John Galloway

2011 – Joel White

2010 – Joel White

2009 – Matt Abbott

2008 – Mike Leveille

2004 – Mikey Powell

2003 – Mikey Powell

2002 – Josh Coffman

2002 – Mikey Powell

2001 – Josh Coffman

Senior Nick Mariano leads the Orange in total points with 13 and is 31^st in the country in points per game with 4.33. The transfer from UMass has been huge for the ‘Cuse adding six assists to his seven goals on the season, leaving him 24^th nationally in assists per game. SU has relied more on Mariano as a distributor this year given that Nate Solomon is still developing, although his ability to score off of the dodge is incredible. It was originally expected that Mariano would be on the first line midfield, but he did see some time on the attack against Army.

Sergio Salcido exploded last year, and thus far in 2017 he leads the Orange in assists with eight and is 13^th in assists per game in division I with 2.67. Salcido did not score in the season opener against the Siena Saints, but rallied back with two goals and two assists against the Albany Great Danes. There is no question that with just three goals on the season, Syracuse will need more scoring from Salcido in order for the Orange to be successful this season.

The final Syracuse addition to the list is fellow senior Ben Williams. The Holy Cross transfer did not play against the Army Black Knights last week due to an injury, but so far has a .690 faceoff winning percentage. The NCAA statistics only rank players who have taken 75% of their teams’ faceoffs so Williams is not listed, but if he was he would be third behind Alex Woodall of the Towson Tigers and Trevor Baptiste of the Denver Pioneers. With Williams out against Army, we saw how valuable he is as SU went just five of 16 in the first half. Williams was named to the first watch list in 2016 and was a late addition to the watch list in 2015.

There were two names left off of the list from Syracuse that may raise some eyebrows. Jordan Evans is 18^th in the country in assists per game and 41^st in the country in points per game. Currently the senior has five goals, seven assists, and 12 points through three games. Additionally, Brendan Bomberry, a transfer from Denver, has exploded in his new home. Bomberry has a team leading eight goals leaving him 36^th in the country in goals per game. His ability around the net is incredible and he has the 17^th best shooting percentage in the nation.