Men's Tewaaraton Stock Watch: Three Locks, One 'Maybe' and One Question Mark

With only four more days of games remaining before the NCAA tournament, the biggest question in the Tewaaraton Watch may well be who takes the last spot among the finalists when they are announced next week.

Cornell’s CJ Kirst, Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh and Duke’s Brennan O’Neill look like they’ll be finalists as well as first-team All-America selections.

And it’s probably a safe guess that Virginia, which owns the nation’s top-scoring offense, will have a representative. That means Connor Shellenberger is likely to be a repeat finalist despite an injury-plagued season.

As for the fifth spot? Maybe a defenseman claims it? Cornell’s Gavin Adler, Georgetown’s Will Bowen, Duke’s Kenny Brower and Maryland’s Brett Makar are all options and play for teams likely headed for the postseason. Or perhaps a fifth-year player who is capping a strong college career with an excellent season — think Villanova’s Matt Campbell or Penn State’s TJ Malone.

Another possibility: It’s a familiar name with the ability to carry a team at times. Penn midfielder Sam Handley has 12 goals and six assists over the Quakers’ last three games — all of them effectively must-wins — and has 28 goals and 23 assists heading into the Ivy League tournament.

There is certainty about the top three and a significant degree of confidence about the fourth. But that last spot is still hard to figure out even this late in the spring.

1. CJ Kirst, A, Cornell (58 G, 18 A)

Still the national leader in goals per game (4.46) and points per game (5.85) by a healthy sum, Kirst tallied three goals and three assists in a 14-13 overtime defeat of Princeton on Saturday, as the Big Red clinched the Ivy League’s regular season title.

The junior has at least two more games and perhaps as many as six this season, so reaching the 60-goal plateau is a near-certainty barring injury. Even a 70-goal year is within reach. Of the three Division I players to score 70 goals in a season in the Tewaaraton era, two (Albany’s Miles Thompson in 2014 and Maryland’s Jared Bernhardt in 2021) won the award. Penn State’s Mac O’Keefe in 2019 was the third.

2. Brennan O’Neill, A, Duke (42 G, 29 A)

The junior busted out in the Blue Devils’ conference finale against Syracuse, dropping four goals and two assists on the Orange for the second time this season as Duke earned an 18-15 victory. In the process, he reached 200 points for his career. He did it in 48 games faster than all but one of the 15 Blue Devils ever to hit that mark; Justin Guterding managed it in 47 games.

3. Pat Kavanagh, A, Notre Dame (19 G, 39 A)

Kavanagh also hit (and then surpassed) the 200-point plateau for his career with a goal and two assists in the Fighting Irish’s 12-8 loss at Virginia. Kavanagh is up to 202 points over four seasons, and he also matched his own single-season program assists record.

On raw numbers, Kavanagh won’t match Kirst or O’Neill thanks to Notre Dame’s modest 12-game regular-season schedule. But he’s fourth nationally in points per game (behind Kirst but ahead of O’Neill), and he’s a near-certainty to be among the five Tewaaraton finalists.

4. Connor Shellenberger, A, Virginia (19 G, 43 A)

The redshirt junior had a goal and three assists against Notre Dame on Sunday, assisting on a pair of goals during a third-quarter run that saw the Cavaliers seize control en route to a season sweep of the Irish.

Shellenberger was banged up for a good chunk of the season, and yet he heads into the NCAA tournament tied for the sixth most assists in a year in program history. The group ahead of him: Jay Connor (58 in 1972), Steele Stanwick (51 in 2012), Tim Whiteley (49 in 1996 and 47 in 1994) and … Connor Shellenberger (44 last season).

5. Coulter Mackesy, A, Princeton (45 G, 20 A)

Cornell silenced Mackesy on Saturday, and there is certainly an argument for any of the players listed below (as well as for Big Red defenseman Gavin Adler, who is enjoying a stellar season of his own). But even with zero points in the regular-season finale, Mackesy still ranks second nationally with 5.42 points per game.

Truth is, this fifth slot has been hard to figure out all season, and the guess here is it ultimately goes to a veteran player on a team that makes the NCAA tournament.

Next five: Matt Brandau, A, Yale; Matt Campbell, M, Villanova; Payton Cormier, A, Virginia; Tye Kurtz, A, Delaware; TJ Malone, A, Penn State