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BEST adj.
/best/
superlative of GOOD

1: excelling all others

2: most productive of good: offering or producing the greatest advantage, utility, or satisfaction

3: most, largest

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Best of Lacrosse 2018 Finalists
Men’s Player | Women’s Player
Men’s Coach | Women’s Coach
Men’s Breakthrough | Women’s Breakthrough
Men’s Performance | Women’s Performance
Game | Moment

As the lacrosse calendar turns from 2018 to 2019 and we reflect on one of the most riveting years in recent memory, US Lacrosse Magazine is taking to Twitter for the fans’ perspective on what made it so. We’ve identified four finalists each in 10 categories in preparation for our annual “Best of Lacrosse” edition.

Below, we present the finalists for Best Men’s Player:

Trevor Baptiste
Denver/Cannons/USA

A finalist in this category a year ago, Baptiste put the finishing touches on a prolific college career by becoming just the sixth player in history — and first since Syracuse’s Mike Powell — to be named a USILA first-team All-American in all four years. Baptiste and Albany’s TD Ierlan spent much of the spring trading eye-popping faceoff performances, with the former setting NCAA career records for wins (1,158) and winning percentage (71.4) and the latter shattering NCAA single-season records for wins (359), ground balls (254) and winning percentage (79.1). Memorably, they faced off to a 50-50 stalemate in the NCAA quarterfinals. After an adjustment period in MLL, Baptiste, the No. 1 overall pick, heated up toward the end of the season. He carried that momentum into the FIL World Championship, where he won more than 75 percent of faceoffs for the gold medal-winning U.S. team, including a 9-for-12 performance in the championship game against Canada.

Justin Guterding
Duke/Machine

Overshadowed by glitzier attackmen like Connor Fields, Pat Spencer and Jeff Teat — not to mention Tewaaraton winner Ben Reeves — Guterding quietly put together a statistical season on par with Reeves with 66 goals and 47 assists. In the process, he surpassed Zack Greer as the NCAA’s all-time leader with 212 career goals and led Duke back to championship weekend for the first time since the Blue Devils won the second of back-to-back national titles in 2013. As an MLL rookie, Guterding slotted in immediately as a starter and finished with 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in just nine games with the Ohio Machine.

Rob Pannell
Lizards/USA

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a player with a more impressive three-month stretch than what Pannell did from late April until early August. He earned an elusive MLL MVP honor after breaking his own single-season record with 78 points (43 goals, 35 assists). Pannell did so despite playing in just 13 games due to his commitments with the U.S. national team, for which he earned All-World honors, feeding Tom Schreiber for the gold medal game-winning goal with one second left in the FIL World Championship final.

Ben Reeves
Yale

Someday, when Reeves wins a Nobel Prize for curing cancer, we’ll remember fondly the days when he was the best player in college lacrosse. Reeves epitomized the blue-collar ethos that carried the Bulldogs to their first-ever NCAA championship. He led the country with 115 points en route to becoming Yale’s all-time leading scorer and winning the prestigious Tewaaraton Award.