Joel White with his father, Harold (far left), brother, Steve (second from left), and mother, Maureen (far right), at the 2010 Tewaaraton Awards banquet.
White Caps Banner Year At Tewaaraton Awards Banquet
6/4/2010 2:30:45 AM | Men's Lacrosse
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The best and brightest in the world of college lacrosse took center stage on Thursday, June 3 at the 2010 Tewaaraton Awards banquet held at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Among them was Orange co-captain Joel White, who was one of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy as national player of the year.
Despite a stellar season in which White became the first defensive specialist to win the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's (USILA) Lt. Donald C. MacLaughlin Jr. Award as the nation's best midfielder, White did not take home the sport's most prestigious award. That honor went to Duke's Ned Crotty, who beat out White, as well as other finalists Ken Clausen (Virginia), Curtis Dickson (Delaware) and Kevin Crowley (Stony Brook).
“It was a great honor to be here,” White said of his Tewaaraton experience. “Ned is very deserving of the award. He's a great player and he had a great season. I think all of the guys are very deserving and it's just been fun for me to be here and to get to know these other finalists the last few days.”
White was the leader of a Syracuse defense that held 13 of its 15 opponents to less than 10 goals and led the nation in fewest goals allowed per game (7.4). White paced the Orange in ground balls (78) and caused turnovers (31), while routinely matching up against the opposing team's best offensive midfielder.
In one of his most impressive performances of the season, White shut down Johns Hopkins first-team All-American Michael Kimmel, ending Kimmel's 28-game point streak. White outscored Kimmel, 1-0, for the game to help the Orange to a 10-7 win against the Blue Jays in March.
White's also had six goals and four assists in 2010. His 10 points came in transition as he helped the Orange go quickly from defense to offense. At Notre Dame on May 1, White scored two goals to become the first SU defender since 2000 to record a multiple-goal game. The following week, he added two more goals in a win at St. John's.
White's ability to excel both offensively and defensively has impressed Orange head coach John Desko.
“Joel's a great leader and a tremendous athlete,” Desko said. “He's adjusted to the long pole faster than anyone I've even seen. Besides his defense, his offense with a pole in his hand was a tremendous asset for us, a real bonus for our team.”
The selection of White and Clausen (close defense) as finalists indicates the selection committee is willing to reward defensive players. Typically, offensive standouts make up the majority of the Tewaaraton Award finalists. It's a trend White hopes will continue.
“I give the committee a lot of credit,” White said. “There are a lot of great defensive players out there and it's nice to see that we do have a chance (to win) with myself and Ken being finalists this year.”
On the women's side, Maryland's Caitlyn McFadden broke Northwestern's stranglehold on the award. She was the first non-Wildcat to win the Tewaaraton Trophy since Katie Chrest (Duke) in 2005. The other 2010 women's finalists were: Ali DeLuca (Penn), Katrina Dowd (Northwestern), Brittany Kalkstein (Virginia) and Jennifer Russell (North Carolina).
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