How much does postseason performance matter in determining the Tewaaraton Award winner? Do full-time or full-field players have an edge over specialists? What’s more important, gaudy stats or an athlete’s value to his or her team? Are they mutually exclusive? Does class matter?

All of these questions will linger for another 24 hours. Then they will be answered.

The Tewaaraton Foundation will host and toast the 10 finalists — five men and five women — at the 17th-annual Tewaaraton Award Ceremony tomorrow night at Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Theater tickets are nearly sold out, organizers tweeted Tuesday.

It’s the Heisman of lacrosse. Here’s one editor’s take on the race.

THE FRONT-RUNNERS

Matt Rambo, Maryland // Kylie Ohlmiller, Stony Brook

Albany’s Connor Fields wowed us this season in every way. He scored 55 goals and doled out 62 assists, often landing on highlight reels for his fancy behind-the-back fakes and ability to navigate in traffic. His 117 points are one more than reigning Tewaaraton winner Dylan Molloy put up last year and fourth-most in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history. (Two guys named Thompson hold the top three spots.)

And yet, you got the sense that Rambo, a senior, overtook Fields, a junior, as the Tewaaraton front-runner with his four-goal, four-assist performance in the Terps’ 18-9 NCAA quarterfinal win over the Great Danes. The unquestioned alpha male of Maryland’s first NCAA title team since 1975 finished the season with 42 goals and 45 assists and finished his career as the Terps’ all-time leading scorer.

Ohlmiller, another social media sensation with a reputation for did-you-see-that goals, just put the finishing touches on the most prolific season in NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse history.  The junior attacker had 78 goals and 86 assists, her 164 points surpassing the great Jen Adams’ 148 in 2001 as the most ever recorded in a single season.

It’s not like Ohlmiller went out with a whimper, either. Stony Brook gave eventual champion Maryland its stiffest test of the NCAA tournament. The Seawolves had the Terps on the ropes, leading by two with 10 minutes remaining before Maryland rallied with the last three goals. Ohlmiller factored in seven of Stony Brook’s 12 goals in the 13-12 loss, finishing with three goals and four assists while going up against Terps defender and fellow Tewaaraton finalist Nadine Hadnagy.

“She’s the best player in the women’s game, period,” Seawolves coach Joe Spallina said afterward. “She deserves the Tewaaraton. It’s an absolute no-brainer.”

THE SO-CALLED SPECIALISTS

Trevor Baptiste, Denver // Nadine Hadnagy, Maryland

Baptiste is the first faceoff man to become a Tewaaraton finalist, and no player was more valuable to his team. The junior won 74.4 percent of his faceoffs (297-for-399), the fourth-best single season in NCAA history. Most memorable was his 21-for-22 masterpiece in the Pioneers’ 16-4 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals. Baptiste also scored 12 goals. But his so-so 11-for-21 showing in Denver’s NCAA semifinal loss to Maryland — the Terps also neutralized Albany’s TD Ierlan and Ohio State’s Jake Withers during this run, mind you — may have hurt his Tewaaraton stock.

Hadnagy anchored the often-underappreciated Maryland defense and consistently neutralized opponents’ top threats. She led the Terps with 26 caused turnovers and embodied Maryland’s disciplined approach to defense by committing just 25 fouls.

No male who did not predominantly play offense has ever won the Tewaaraton Award. Princeton’s Rachael Becker (2003) is the only defender, male or female, to win the trophy. 

THE PRESEASON DARLINGS

Pat Spencer, Loyola // Marie McCool, North Carolina

Spencer and McCool lived up to the hype in 2017.

“Best player in the country” was a common phrase college coaches used to sum up Spencer in the preseason, a big reason Loyola was ranked No. 4 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20. Everyone’s favorite late bloomer followed his sensational freshman season — many pundits thought he should have been a Tewaaraton finalist last year — with an equally impressive sophomore campaign. Spencer set Loyola and Patriot League single-season records with his 55 assists, leading the country in assists per game (5.47) and ranking third in points per game (5.47). But then he ran into Ben Randall and an unforgiving Ohio State defense in the NCAA tournament.

McCool, the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year and one of just two current collegians on the U.S. World Cup team, was as good as advertised. The ACC Midfielder of the Year led the Tar Heels with 50 goals, twice amassing eight points in a game, and 19 caused turnovers.

THE CENTURY CLUB

Connor Fields, Albany // Olivia Hompe, Princeton

Fields, Hompe and Ohlmiller were the only Tewaaraton finalists to hit the 100-point mark. (Seven other women also netted at least 100 points this season.)

Fields’ case is rock solid. He started his college career predominantly as a finisher opposite Lyle Thompson but has evolved into a multifaceted superstar. He’s just the seventh player in NCAA history to record at least 50 goals and 50 assists in a season.

Hompe is Princeton’s first Tewaaraton finalist since 2005 (Lindsey Biles). She led the country in goals per game (3.95) as part of a 75-goal, 35-assist senior season. She is the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer, set the school’s single-season points record with 110 and would have a lot more cachet if it were Princeton and not Penn State that advanced out of a thrilling NCAA quarterfinal.

THE RETURNING FINALIST

Ben Reeves, Yale

Reeves is the only 2016 finalist who will return to D.C. in 2017. Slowed by a hamstring injury to start the season, the junior attackman really turned it on in the second half of the season. Unsurprisingly, so did Yale. Reeves finished with 42 goals and 37 assists this season, ending in a four-goal, two-assist performance in the Bulldogs’ 11-10 loss to Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  He nearly singlehandedly willed Yale back to the quarterfinals with two unassisted goals in a 71-second span to tie that game in the fourth quarter.

THE DO-IT-ALL DYNAMO

Zoe Stukenberg, Maryland

Many expected Megan Whittle to assume the mantle in College Park after three-time Tewaaraton winner Taylor Cummings graduated. Instead, Stukenberg rose as the most likely Terp to take home the hardware. She ranked in the top three of every statistical category for Maryland, including 53 goals, 31 assists, 84 points, a team-high 48 ground balls, 74 draw controls and 21 caused turnovers — all career highs. Stukenberg became the face of the team, leading the Terps to their third NCAA championship in four years.

THE CRITERIA

According to the Tewaaraton Foundation, the selection committee uses the following guidelines to choose finalists and recipients:

• Finalists will be the best five players chosen without regard to institution.

• Finalists will be selected based on individual performance and a player’s contribution to the success of their team.

• Finalists are chosen based on the current year’s regular-season performance (date of selection is at the conclusion of the regular season, before playoffs).

• Recipients are chosen based on the current year’s regular season and playoff performance.

• Sportsmanship can play a role in the selection process, and it is important that the recipient upholds the mission and values of the Tewaaraton Award.