As the season winds to a close, thoughts turn to identifying and recognizing players who had outstanding seasons. I've probably watched at least 40 games this season, and have seen most of the obvious candidates for All-America recognition at least once. I've also used the invaluable laxpower.com Player Impact Ratings, despite a couple of minor quibbles I have with their formulas, to sort out a number of close calls and separate myth and reality. I expect to be loudly berated by Syracuse, North Carolina, and Notre Dame fans, but such is life.
Herewith, one idiot's view of the best players of 2013.
First Team
A: Marcus Holman, North Carolina; Rob Pannell, Cornell; Lyle Thompson, Albany
OM: Wesley Berg, Denver; JoJo Marasco, Syracuse; Tom Schreiber, Princeton
LSM: John LoCascio, Villanova
SSDM: Will Haus, Duke; Josh Hawkins, Loyola
FO: Kevin Massa, Bryant
D: Peter Johnson, Yale; Thomas Keith, Cornell; Scott McWilliams, Virginia
G: Dillon Ward, Bellarmine
Second Team
A: Kieran McArdle, St. John's; Steve Mock, Cornell; Jordan Wolf, Duke
OM: Connor Buczek, Cornell; David Dickson, Bucknell; Jesse King, Ohio State
LSM: Scott Ratliff, Loyola
SSDM: Ryan Creighton, North Carolina; Pat Laconi, Loyola
FO: Brendan Fowler, Duke
D: Steven Bogert, Penn State; Tyler Knarr, Georgetown; Michael McCormick, Yale
G: Austin Kaut, Penn State
Player of the Year: Lyle Thompson, Albany
Specialist of the Year: Kevin Massa, Bryant
Freshman of the Year: Matt Kavanaugh, Notre Dame
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