WASHINGTON D.C. — Kevin Rice stood on stage with his hands folded in front of him as the men’s Tewaaraton award winner was announced.

Just minutes earlier, as the women’s winner was announced, Kayla Treanor instantly flashed a smile and laughed with Notre Dame defender Barbara Sullivan standing next to her.

Neither Rice nor Treanor took home the Tewaaraton at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Thursday night. University at Albany’s Lyle Thompson took home the men’s Tewaaraton and Maryland midfielder Taylor Cummings won the award for the women.

“It would mean a lot (to win),” Rice said before the ceremony. “It would be certainly a validation of my career, but even if I don’t win it it’s still an honor to be here.”

Rice and Treanor were among the five finalists for each award — one for the men and one for the women — given to the nation’s top player. Denver attack Wesley Berg, Duke midfielder Myles Jones and Notre Dame attack Matt Kavanagh rounded out the men’s group. Florida attack Shannon Gilroy, Boston College midfielder Sarah Mannelly and Sullivan were the other finalists on the women’s side.

Rice led the second-best scoring offense in the country with 84 points and won the Jack Turnbull Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding attack, beating out Thompson. The Orange suffered a disappointing 16-15 loss to unseeded Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, despite coming in as the No. 2 seed.

“I didn’t really play at all as freshman and you know just every year keep developing and my role increased to be a captain this last year was extremely exciting for me,” Rice said before the ceremony.

He would have joined former Syracuse attacks Michael Powell and Mike Leveille as the only SU players to win the Tewaaraton.

Thompson put up 121 points for Albany this season, second in NCAA history to the 128 he put up last year when he shared the Tewaaraton Award with his brother, Miles. He’s the first back-to-back men’s Tewaaraton winner since the award was first given out in 2001 and the first repeat winner since Powell won it in 2002 and 2004.

“I’m just proud to represent my team in Albany,” Thompson said. “ … We changed the look on lacrosse — all of lacrosse around the world. “

On the women’s side, Treanor’s 60 goals were the most for the SU and her 91 points were tied for first on the team with attack Halle Majorana. She earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row and is fourth all time in points, assists and goals for the Orange, despite having and up and down year in which she recorded zero points in three games.

SU battled through a tumultuous season marked with eight losses to win the ACC championship, but lost to Cummings and Maryland in the final four.

“It’s just about being here,” Treanor said before the ceremony. “You don’t focus on winning these kind of things. It’s just about the event.”

Cummings put together a similar campaign to last season, en route to her second straight Tewaaraton Award and national championship. She finished first in the nation in points and fifth in draw controls this season, including 11 points in the national championship and semifinal games.

A women’s player from Maryland has won the Tewaaraton each of the past four years, with Cummings and Katie Schwarzmann each winning it in back-to-back years. Cummings became the first female sophomore to win the award last year.

“Individual awards are great, but it wouldn’t happen without (my teammates),” Cummings said during her speech.

Also at the event, Oren Lyons, a former All-American goalie for Syracuse and faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of Onondaga Nation, was given the Spirit of Tewaaraton award.

Former Syracuse midfielder Brad Kotz was honored with the Tewaaraton Legend Award, given each year to a player who played before 2001 when the award was first created.

Published on May 28, 2015 at 9:47 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus