Week's worth of players to watch
Inside Lacrosse's players of the week, Tewaaraton watch and more
As the men's lacrosse season advances, Inside Lacrosse has its eye on a number of players. We've got the scoop on everything from the players of the week to the latest Tewaaraton watch.
Players of the week
Men
Kyle Wimer, UMBC
Wimer had a two-goal, three-assist showing Saturday against Colgate, with three of those points coming in a late four-goal run that helped the Retrievers put the game away. The outburst helped UMBC improve to 3-0 on the season and earned the junior midfielder Nike/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week honors.
Wimer, who also had a team-high seven ground balls in the game, leads the team with 11 goals on the season. He's second behind fellow middie Peet Poillon with 15 points for the Retrievers, who moved up to No. 8 in the latest Nike/IL media poll. Wimer also leads the team with 19 ground balls and has hit on 41 percent of his shots this spring, up from less than 20 percent as a sophomore.
After scoring 19 goals and adding 17 assists a year ago, Wimer has been the key to UMBC's offense and will be called upon again as the Retrievers go into the toughest part of their schedule -- facing Princeton this week at home, then Maryland and Ohio State in the next two weeks before entering their America East schedule against Stony Brook on March 28.
Women
Jillian Byers, Notre Dame
By scoring five goals against Stanford, Byers passed former teammate Crysti Foote ('06) for first place in all-time points at Notre Dame and led the Irish to a key nonconference win. She also earned Nike/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week honors.
Byers, who'd already held the school's career goals record, was four points behind Foote before the game started and tied the mark by scoring four goals in an 11-minute span in the first half that blew open a 2-2 game (who eventually won 17-8). More than 30 minutes later, goal No. 5 came off a free position with less than four minutes remaining in the game for point No. 238 on her career. The goal was Byers' 13th on the season and improved her school record to 192 goals.
Byers also is within striking distance of the school record for draw controls, as she stands 12 shy of the record for the 3-1 Irish.
Team of the week
Each week, Inside Lacrosse takes the men's players with some of the best performances of the weekend, puts them in a blender and comes up with the best mix of performances -- the team of the week.
Attack
Scorer: Jim Connolly, UMass
A seven-goal day against Yale earned Connolly ECAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, as well as a spot on IL's team of the week.
Feeder: Grant Catalino, Maryland
Four assists and two goals in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic were a good way for Catalino and Maryland to snap Duke's 11-game ACC win streak.
Clutch: Jay Card, Hofstra
As one of two IL team of the week entrants making his second appearance, Card did it again. I can't talk about his clutch performance any better than the in-game blog covered it.
Midfield
Scorer: Shamel Bratton, Virginia
Coming-out party?
Many will say it's been a long time coming for Bratton, but 4-and-1 in the biggest game of the year to date is about all you can ask of the former No. 1 recruit.
Feeder: Kyle Wimer, UMBC
This is the third straight appearance for a Retriever middie, but it's hard to ignore his five points in UMBC's big win over Colgate.
Longstick middie: Dom DeNapoli, St. John's
Division I's leading ground-ball-getter keyed the Johnnies' win over G'town by taking clutch faceoffs down the stretch. DeNapoli had to overcome a second-quarter, three-minute nonreleasable stick penalty in the win, which catapulted St. John's into the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association rankings, the first time it has appeared in the top 20 since the program's return in 2005.
Defense
Lockdown No. 1: Sam Barnes, Notre Dame
In holding down Ari Sussman to one goal in the Irish's 17-9 win over Dartmouth, the converted longstick finished a three-game stretch of covering Sussman, Penn State's Jack Forster and Loyola's Cooper MacDonnell. Little rest for the weary; up next? UNC's Billy Bitter.
Lockdown No. 2: Chad Wiedmaier, Princeton
Ivy Rookie of the Week for his efforts, Wiedmaier limited Hopkins' Steven Boyle to one goal. As Inside Lacrosse editor Christian Swezey noted, it was how smart he played Boyle that stood out along with his athleticism.
Lockdown No. 3: Billy Haire, Bucknell
The Patriot League Defender of the Week for his three-ground-ball, two-caused-turnover effort against Navy, Haire also is one of the best on-ball defenders in the conference.
Goalie: Tom Palesky, Army
Unfortunate that it couldn't come in a winning effort, but everyone who saw Tom Palesky's 22-save performance against Cornell on ESPNU knows it was even better than the numbers suggest.
Player of the year watch
The difference between 2008 and 2009?
Last year's player of the year watch debuted with four eventual Tewaaraton finalists in its top six. If this year's debut bats .667, I'll be shocked. That's because this year's race is wide open, partially because of all the question marks surrounding some front-runners, slow starts by others and confusion all around.
That said, if the season were to end today (and thank God it doesn't), this is what it'd look like:
1. Kenny Nims | Syracuse | Senior | Attack
(3 games, 10 goals, 8 assists, .526 shooting)
Nims picked up right where Mike Leveille left off, and did so with whispers of Cody Jamieson in his ear. Although Orange fans would've liked to see a more stable offense against Virginia early, they have to feel good about the position in which Nims has them.
2. Garrett Billings | Virginia | Senior | Attack (5 games, 17 goals, 8 assists, .386 shooting)
He's shooting well, hustling, moving the ball. Billings has made an apparent leap in diversifying his game, similar to what Zack Greer did at Duke between '07 and '08.
3. Kyle Wimer | UMBC | Junior | Midfield
(3 games, 10 goals, 4 assists, .417 shooting)
Is any middie in Division I a greater threat to score? Granted, his opposition kicks up a notch this week.
4. Kylor Berkman | Salisbury | Senior | Midfield
(4 games, 18 goals, 13 assists, .439 shooting)
Is any middie in the country a greater threat to score? Granted, his opposition has been bad, even by Division III standards, thus far.
5. Billy Bitter | North Carolina | Sophomore | Attack
(5 games, 12 goals, 9 assists, .429 shooting)
There's been a lot of buzz about what Bitter brings to Carolina's offense, and fans will get to see this week, as the Heels' game against Notre Dame will be televised Sunday.
6. Jay Card | Hofstra | Sophomore | Attack
(2 games, 7 goals, 3 assists)
Don't forget about his two game winners.
7. Zack Greer | Bryant | Senior | Attack
(4 games, 13 goals, 10 assists, .464 shooting)
Greer basically was shut down against Virginia despite getting open looks on the doorstep, but his shooting hasn't fallen off since his move to Bryant.
8. Ned Crotty | Duke | Senior | Attack
(4 games, 6 goals, 11 assists, .429 shooting)
Losses to Harvard and Maryland have some questioning Duke's quality and others wondering how good the Crimson and Terps might be. Still, Crotty has been excellent in playing attack for the first time.
9. Brandon Corp | Colgate | Senior | Attack
(4 games, 13 goals, 7 assists, .317 shooting)
Injuries, a 1-3 start and below-par shooting numbers made for a tough February for Corp. Expect things to get better.
10. Jack McBride | Princeton | Sophomore | Attack
(2 games, 8 goals, 1 assist, .320 shooting)
He helped shred Hopkins' defense and looks like the key to Princeton's offensive resurgence (and also a lot like Ryan Boyle, wearing No. 14).
For more on college lacrosse, check out Inside Lacrosse.
