All five of the Tewaaraton Award candidates have spent the past few days getting tours and learning about the history of the award, which has Native American roots.

While the time leading up to the announcement has been fun, Alyssa Murray said, there is a lot on the line Thursday night.

Murray and fellow Syracuse attack Kayla Treanor were first and second in the nation in points with 117 and 110, respectively, and are two of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award. But neither is considered a shoe-in for the country’s most prestigious individual honor, which will be presented at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Although the Orange lost the national championship game to Maryland on Sunday night, a Syracuse player taking home the Tewaaraton Award would recognize the best season in SU’s program history.

“It would be a team award,” Murray said. “I was actually thinking about it earlier. I could never accept an award like this where it is about the individual without the team behind me.”

Although three Tewaaraton Awards have been handed to a Syracuse men’s lacrosse player, no SU women’s lacrosse player has ever won it in the trophy’s 13-year history.

While the senior Murray is a finalist for the second straight year, Treanor is among the nation’s elite players as just a sophomore. Joining them are Maryland’s Megan Douty and Taylor Cummings, along with Florida’s Shannon Gilroy.

Cummings was one of the best all-around players statistically for Maryland. She was ninth in the country in goals scored with 63, and 10th in draw controls at 5.33 per game.

Douty is the lone defensive player on the list. She was the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year for a Terrapins defense that allowed just 7.86 goals per game. She guarded Treanor in the national championship game and held her to two goals.

Gilroy led the nation in scoring with 4.1 goals per game. Her 86 goals were seven more than Treanor, the second-best scorer, while playing in three fewer games. She was third in points with 106.

The competition will be tough for Treanor and Murray. Treanor finished the year with a program record 79 goals. Murray rose to third all time in points in Syracuse history.

“Even though we didn’t win the national championship,” Murray said, “if (either myself or Treanor) were to come away with the award, it would be a total reflection of our team’s hard work.”

Published on May 29, 2014 at 5:28 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3