4 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Named to Tewaaraton Award Watch List
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. - An impressive four MAAC Men's Lacrosse student-athletes were named on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List which recognizes the nation's top collegiate lacrosse players. 73 players were selected to this list and among those selected are Detroit's Joel Matthews, Marist's Connor Rice, Siena's Bryan Neufeld and VMI's Stephen Robarge.
Matthews, from St. Catharines, Ontario, is the first Detroit Titan to be selected onto the Watch List. After three games in 2012, Matthews leads his team in scoring with nine points on five goals. He was also named to the 2010 All-MAAC Second Team.
Rice, a native of Penfield, New York, was named to the All-MAAC First Team in 2011 and to the All-MAAC Preseason Team in 2012. He was named MAAC Rookie of the Year and to the All-MAAC Second Team in the 2010 season. Rice led the Marist Red Foxes team in scoring in the 2011 season.
Neufeld, from Virgil, Ontario, was selected as the 2012 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year by the MAAC Lacrosse coaches, 2011 MAAC Player of the Year, and 2009 MAAC Rookie of the Year. Neufeld is also a three-time All-MAAC First Team offensive selection.
Senior face-off specialist, Robarge, is the first VMI Keydet to be named to the Watch List. Robarge, a native of Lorton, Virginia, led all of Division I in face-off percentage (67.0) in 2011. He was also named onto the All-MAAC Preseason Team in 2012. In 2011, Robarge was named MAAC Face-off Specialist of the Year and earned a spot on the All-MAAC second team
The Tewaaraton Award Watch List includes top lacrosse players across all three division of collegiate lacrosse. In late April, the Watch List will be narrowed down to 25 Tewaaraton Nominees. In mid-May the five finalists in each category will be announced and invited to the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony taking place on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
For information on the Award and to purchase tickets to the event, go to www.tewaarataton.com.
About The Tewaaraton Award
The Tewaaraton Award was formally established in August of 2000 with the inaugural presentation taking place at The University Club of Washington DC in June of 2001. The Tewaaraton Trophy symbolizes lacrosse's centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. Tradition dictates that each year the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy: the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and the Tuscarora. To honor the heritage of the sport, the Award presents two annual scholarships to students of American Indian decent. The Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the nation's top male and female collegiate lacrosse players and is endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and US Lacrosse.
About The University Club of the City of Washington, DC Established in 1904 during the tenure of William Howard Taft, the Club's first President and later the President of the United States, the membership is a diverse mix of professional, business and government leaders. The Club's mission is to provide members and their families: congenial social gatherings, good fellowship, excellent dining, guest rooms, athletics, a rich variety of cultural, international and educational programs activities, and other services to enhance health, wellness, intellectual growth and fitness within the Club's superbly maintained and expanded historic Clubhouse.