3 Lacrosse Players Named Tewaaraton Award Finalists

Seniors Jen Giles and Megan Taylor from the Maryland women’s lacrosse team and junior Jared Bernhardt from the men’s squad have been named finalists for the Tewaaraton Award, which annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse player in the United States.

Five men and five women finalists have been invited to Washington, D.C., for the 19th annual award ceremony on May 30.

Giles, Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and an All-Big Ten selection, leads UMD with 53 goals, 22 assists and 75 points this season. She has scored at least three goals in 10 games this year, including in Maryland's 17–8 win over Stony Brook yesterday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and has led the team in assists in 10 games and in points in eight.

Taylor has recorded 185 saves to 146 goals allowed this season. She was named the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, an All-Big Ten selection and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for six consecutive weeks and the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association National Defensive Player of the Week three times.

Bernhardt, a First Team All-Big Ten selection, leads the Terps with 47 goals, including two in UMD's 14–13 overtime victory over Towson yesterday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The attackman has three game-winning goals this season. The two-time All-American put together a streak of six consecutive hat tricks from March 9 to April 14, the longest by a Terp since 2001.

The UMD’s women’s team has produced eight Tewaaraton winners, the most in the award’s history, including six in the past seven years. Bernhardt is the fourth-ever finalist from Maryland’s men’s team, which has now had a finalist for three straight seasons.