The final round of major All-American honors were revealed on Thursday, as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced them alongside their annual season awards.
The Syracuse Orange had seven players named to their All-American teams, but the biggest headline was that Joey Spallina, who earned First Team selection, was named the Lt. Col. J.I. Turnbull Outstanding Attackman as the national attackman of the year.
This is the 15th time a Syracuse player has won the Turnbull
Award since it was first issued all the way back in 1946, and Joey becomes the first recipient since Kevin Rice in 2015.
Alongside Spallina on the First Team, Luke Rhoa was named to the Second Team, while Riley Figueiras and Billy Dwan earned Third Team recognition. Michael Leo, Johnny Mullen and Jimmy McCool were all named Honorable Mention selections.
Let’s take a comparative look with yesterday’s USILA honors and last week’s USA and Inside Lacrosse choices:
‘Cuse had eight players in total earn at least one All-American selection. Spallina, Leo, Rhoa, Figueiras and Dwan were unanimous across all three teams, while Mullen, Bowen and McCool each made one team.
By total numbers, the Orange had five players on the Inside Lacrosse team, six on the USA Lacrosse team, and seven on the USILA team announced yesterday.
Just like last week, it remains jarring to see the complete lack of recognition for Finn Thomson. I do get it, because attack is so loaded and there are only so many slots available. But Finn’s the leading goal scorer for one of the best teams in the country, and he’s obviously a huge reason why. When you combine it with not getting drafted by the PLL last month, the Finn disrespect is running rampant.
If you’re curious about the other Final Four teams, Princeton led the way with nine total selections, including three on the First Team. Notre Dame tied ‘Cuse with seven honorees, although they had two first-teamers compared to the one for the Orange, and Duke rounded out the group with five total and one first team.
Congratulations to Joey, Michael, Luke, Johnny, Riley, Billy and Jimmy on earning their recognition from the USILA!
