Feb. 24, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's lacrosse's Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.) and TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) have been named to the 2016 Tewaaraton Award watch list, as announced by the foundation last night. The Nittany Lion duo is among the top players across all three divisions of NCAA Lacrosse to be recognized as early contenders for the prestigious award, presented by Under Armour.
Aponte opened the 2016 season with two goals and four assists for a six-point outing to help the Nittany Lions to a win against Robert Morris. He's also tallied at least one assist in all three games this season, stretching his point-scoring streak to 21 consecutive games with at least one point. On the year, he's ranked 23rd nationally with 2.00 assists per game and sixth in the conference.
Sanders has continued climbing the Nittany Lion record book, registering at least two goals in all three games this season. Sanders has logged six consecutive multi-goal games, dating back to April 19, 2015. In just the first game of the season, he became the seventh Nittany Lion in program history to eclipse the 100 career goals mark. His 105 career goals are slated second all-time in the Penn State record book. Sanders is presently averaging 3.00 goals per game, which is slotted 20th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten standings.
The Tewaaraton Award, presented by Under Armour, annually honors the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. The selection committees are made up of premier collegiate coaches and are appointed annually by The Tewaaraton Foundation.
"The national reach of quality players is evident in this list, with players from all regions of the country, along with a strong group of six former winners and finalists," said Jeff Harvey, chairman of The Tewaaraton Foundation. "As the season unfolds, we are excited for another deserving group of Tewaaraton Award candidates to emerge and we look forward to welcoming them to Washington, D.C. in early June."
Players not named to the initial list have several opportunities to play their way into a spot as the season progresses. Watch list additions, if applicable, will be announced on March 17 and April 7. On April 28, the field will be narrowed to 25 men's and 25 women's nominees. Nominees can be players on the watch lists or players not on the watch lists, effectively allowing for a third round of additions. Five men's and five women's finalists will be announced on May 12 and invited to the ceremony. The 16th annual Tewaaraton Award Ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C., on June 2.
Aponte, Sanders and the rest of the No. 15/12 Nittany Lions (3-0) return home from the road to host Villanova (0-1) Saturday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.
Saturday's game is Penn State's Lacrosse for Literacy Day, where Penn State will host its third annual book drive at the game. Paired up with Corl Street Elementary, Penn State men's lacrosse will collect new and gently used books throughout the game to donate to the Corl Street Elementary Library in State College.