Maryland lacrosse has 5 Tewaaraton Award semifinalists

The Tewaaraton Award is the most prestigious individual award in college lacrosse, and five Maryland players are still in the running.

The organization released its list of 25 nominees on the men’s and women’s sides Thursday, the final cut before the five finalists are announced on May 10. Senior midfielder Connor Kelly and sophomore attack Jared Bernhardt made the cut on the men’s side, while senior attack Meghan Whittle, junior goalie Megan Taylor and junior defender Julia Braig did the same on the women’s side.

Kelly has been tremendous as the quarterback of Maryland’s offense with 36 goal and 29 assists, and leads the Big Ten in goals, assists and points per game. He’s one of the front-runners for the award. Bernhardt has been solid after moving up to attack from midfield last year, and his 30 goals and 12 assists are more than he had all of last season. The Terps are one of four teams with two nominees, joining Virginia, Albany and Denver.

Whittle continues to storm through her senior year. She’s broken the school’s career goal record and is third all-time in Division, and is also fourth all-time on the school’s career points list. She has 65 goals, 12 assists and 31 draw controls. Out of Maryland’s three nominees, Whittle has the best chance of becoming a finalist.

Taylor is the two-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and the IWLCA National Goalkeeper of the Year. She was a Tewaaraton nominee last year, and has made 132 saves and stopped 46.8 percent of shots that have come her way this season. Braig has started all but one game since coming to College Park, and this year has been given the job of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. If she’s named a finalist, it will be the third straight year with a Maryland defender in the final five.

Matt Rambo and Zoe Stukenberg took home the trophies last year, and both teams have a shot to add another in a few weeks.

In other news

DJ Moore is officially a first round pick after being selected by the Carolina Panthers 24th overall. He’ll be joining fellow Terp Torrey Smith in Charlotte.

Although Moore will no longer be making plays in College Park, his time will have an impact on the program for years to come.

Maryland women’s lacrosse won another Big Ten regular season title by knocking off Northwestern Thursday night.

Mark Turgeon picked up another 2018 recruit in Indiana forward Trace Ramsey. The Terps may not be done either, as they offered Class of 2019—or maybe Class of 2018—power forward Tyrese Samuels.

Speaking of 2018 recruits, here’s the Baltimore Sun on Aaron Wiggins’ connection to former Maryland star Keith Gatlin, who will be coaching Wiggins in Friday’s Capital Classic. Serrel Smith is also scheduled to play, but Jalen Smith will not after experiencing tightness in his groin earlier in the week.

The university took the next step to finding its next athletic director, announcing Thursday that it hired a search firm and named an eight person search committee to choose Kevin Anderson’s successor.