The Other Guys: Those who didn’t make the Tewaaraton Watch List
The start of college lacrosse season starts the annual tradition of us folks in the media talking about those who are great, those who are not, and those somewhere right in the middle. Let’s be real, it’s great for the sport and gets people talking!
One of those traditions is the Tewaaraton Watch Lists coming out thought the season and while they are just lists, at the beginning of the season they do set a baseline as to who are some of the best players in college lacrosse and who to watch out for. While this isn’t the end all be all, there are certainly always names that get “snubbed” that I’m paying attention to, and you should be as well:
*In no particular order
Willam Baxter, Goalie, Limestone: Can we get some goalie love? Can We get some D2 love? The Englishman (yes, he hails from Manchester UK) has made his presence known down at Limestone. He opened the season with a nine save performance against Belmont Abbey and then followed that up with a whopping 16 save performance this past weekend against Saint Leo! The grad student has already followed up his impressive 2021 campaign with a good start to 2022 should have Limestone in position for yet another D2 national title come May.
Jonathan Donville, M/A, Maryland: The crafty Canadian was the №1. overall pick in the 2021 NLL Draft for a reason. In their first two games Maryland has had him both coming out of the box as a Middie or playing inside at Attack and he has shined so far. Is it a product of a Bobby Benson offense? Sure, but don’t discount the finishing ability, when he shoots, he doesn’t miss very many shots. We saw the same thing when he was at Cornell playing alongside Jeff Teat and so far, has 6 goals in two games so far for the Terps. He’s already a household name in box lacrosse and come May I believe he’ll be a household name to many fans of field lacrosse as well.
Malik Sparrow, LSM Denver: He is a 6'2 195 lb Menace! There were a lot of questions about Denver’s defense after losing Danny Logan and Colin Squires and Malik has answered those so far! Someone needed to take a step up and that’s what he’s done. He’s all over the field and has been a lockdown defender along with playing very well on the wings for the Pioneers.
Mitch Bartolo, A/M Rutgers: I’ll be the first to admit, I wasn’t sure about Rutgers this year and thought they struggle with so many transfers coming in. Bartolo has proven me wrong to date. The Penn transfer already has ten goals in three goals for the Scarlett Knights and has proven to be a leader for this offense. With his 6'6 frame, he has been and will continue to be a matchup nightmare for defenders and his ability to just about play everywhere on offense is huge for this Rutgers team as they try to make that leap in the Big Ten and Nationally. There’s a lot of talent at the top of the Big Ten but he could be a sneaky pick for Big Ten Player of the Year and should crack the Tewaaraton Watch List Very soon.
Could I go on and on? Sure. There are lots of great players in college lacrosse that I’m sure will crack the Tewaaraton Watch List very soon. These are my guys that didn’t make the first round that I think you should watch. Have any more suggestions? Shoot me a dm @jordan_john5 on Twitter and Insta. Let's keep the discussion going!
