February 20, 2004
Notre Dame sophomore A Pat Walsh (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh H.S.) is one of 26 players named to the watch list for the 2004 Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top player at the conclusion of the season. The award will be presented at a banquet in Washington, D.C. on June 3. Walsh led all Division I freshmen in scoring a year ago and was the first Notre Dame player ever to gain All-America accolades as a rookie, being named honorable mention by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Walsh is the first Irish player ever named the to watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is in its fourth year, though A Tom Glatzel was a finalist for the award in 2001.
Walsh, the ’03 GWLL Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, was the first freshman to lead Notre Dame in scoring since Randy Colley did so in 1992. In addition to finding the net 20 times, Walsh tied the school record for assists in a season with 32, accumulating a total of 52 points. He posted at least one point in every game but one in starting every contest of his rookie campaign. Walsh’s top game was an eight-point performance against Harvard in which he had four goals and as many assists. This past summer, he helped the United States win the Under-19 Men’s Lacrosse World Championship, contributing 13 goals and eight assists in six games. Walsh was the national team’s leading scorer in the title game, notching four goals and three assists in a 19-10 triumph over rival Canada.
Notre Dame will have a chance to see eight of the other players on the Tewaaraton watch list this season: Penn State’s Rob Bateman (Feb. 29, home), Michael Powell and Sean Lindsay of Syracuse (March 11, away), North Carolina’s Jed Prossner (March 14, home), Loyola’s Stephen Brundage (March 20, away), Dartmouth’s Andrew Goldstein (April 4, home), and Chris Passavia and Lee Zink of Maryland (May 1, away).
The Tewaaraton Award Foundation, in conjunction with the University Club of Washington, D.C., formally established the “Tewaaraton Trophy” on August 29, 2000. Today, the Tewaaraton Trophy is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the top female and male varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States.
The Irish, 11th in the Lacrosse Magazine preseason rankings and 16th in the Inside Lacrosse preseason coaches poll, return 20 monogram winners, including eight starters, from last season’s team that was 9-5, won a share of a fifth consecutive GWLL crown, and finished the season ranked 18th in the nation after being listed as high as ninth. Notre Dame opens its season Feb. 29 against #17 Penn State at 1 p.m. (EST) in the Loftus Sports Center.