Syracuse's Mike Leveille and Northwestern's Hannah Nielson were selected as the winners of the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy Thursday night (photo courtesy of Inside Lacrosse).
Leveille Wins 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy
5/29/2008 4:59:53 PM | Men's Lacrosse
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Orange attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) has been named the winner of the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy as the player of the year in college lacrosse. The award was presented by the Tewaaraton Awards Foundation, the University Club of Washington, D.C. and Warrior Lacrosse at a banquet Thursday night held at the National Museum of the American Indian. Leveille was chosen from a group of five finalists by the selection committee, which is made up of 11 current and former head coaches.
The Tewaaraton Trophy has been presented to the top lacrosse player in the nation each year since 2001 and Syracuse is the only school to take home the men's version of the award three times. Leveille is the second SU player to win the trophy, joining Mike Powell, the 2002 and 2004 Tewaaraton winner.
Leveille was selected over finalists Matt Danowski and Zack Greer of Duke, Paul Rabil of Johns Hopkins and Ben Rubeor of Virginia.
“Mike has been one of the real leaders of this team all year long,” SU head coach John Desko said. “This is a great reward for him, the team and the University for all that he’s accomplished. He was the main cog in our run to the national championship."
Leveille powered SU to victories against Virginia and Johns Hopkins at Gillette Stadium en route to the school’s 10th NCAA title. A first-team All-American, Leveille was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, tallying 19 points, including 11 goals, in the Orange’s four playoff victories.
He concluded the season ranked third nationally in points per game (4.61), seventh in goals per game (2.72) and seventh in assists per contest (1.89). Leveille led Syracuse in all three categories, notching 49 goals, 34 assists and 83 points. His 49 tallies is tied with Matt Riter for seventh on the school’s single-season list and his 83 points is tied for the 10th-best season total in SU history. Leveille finished his career ninth all-time at Syracuse in goals scored (132), 12th in career assists (83) and 12th in career points (215).
The Tewaaraton Trophy is the latest in long list of honors bestowed on Leveille in 2008. Last weekend he was named the second winner of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for men’s lacrosse. The award is presented to the sport’s most outstanding student-athlete. Leveille also won Syracuse’s Male Athlete of the Year Award and was the school’s male recipient of the Soladay Award for athletic and academic excellence.
Leveille was joined at the awards banquet by SU women's finalist Katie Rowan. Rowan led the nation in scoring, but the women's Tewaaraton went to Northwestern's Hannah Nielson.
Leveille will play Major League Lacrosse this summer. He was selected third overall in Wednesday's MLL Collegiate Draft by New Jersey then traded to Chicago.
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