Albany's Thompson wins lacrosse's Tewaaraton Award

WASHINGTON (AP) Another shining moment for Albany lacrosse star Lyle Thompson.

The career scoring leader in Division I history, Thompson won the Tewaaraton Award for a second time Thursday night. The trophy, given to the best player in the nation, was awarded at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.

''It feels good,'' said Thompson, who shared the trophy last year with brother Miles as they became the first Native Americans to win the award and the first players to share it. ''I am proud of my team, proud of everything they have helped me with these four years, and everything we have accomplished.

''That is what matters to me - that the name 2015 UAlbany lacrosse team is on the trophy.''

Thompson is the second repeat winner in the award's 15-year history, joining Syracuse attackman Mike Powell (2002 and 2004).

Maryland junior midfielder Taylor Cummings, who led the No. 1 Terps to their second straight national championship Sunday, won the women's award, becoming the fourth female repeat winner.

The other four finalists for the men's award were Denver's Wesley Berg, Duke's Myles Jones, Syracuse's Kevin Rice, and Notre Dame's Matt Kavanagh.

Lyle Thompson, whose offensive wizardry helped freshman teammate Connor Fields become the nation's leading goal scorer this year with 66, is the only player in Division I history with three 100-point seasons and finished his career with 400 points on 175 goals and 225 assists. He set the season record for points last year with 128 on 51 goals and a record-tying 77 assists, and had 121 points this year, the second highest total in history, on 52 goals and 69 assists. He also is the career assists leader in Division I.

''What a fitting way to end one of the most outstanding careers ever,'' Albany coach Scott Marr said. ''He will go down as one of the best players to ever play.''

Albany fell short of making the final four, losing for the second straight year to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.

Berg scored five goals on Monday to lead Denver to a 10-5 victory over Maryland in the national championship game, the first title for the Pioneers. Berg had 15 goals in the tournament, most notably the overtime winner in the semifinals against Notre Dame, and finished the season with a school-record 58 goals to move his career total to 188, also the most ever at Denver.

Jones became the first midfielder in Blue Devils' history to produce more than 70 points in a season. The nation's second-leading scoring midfielder led the team, which won the previous two national championships, with 40 goals and 36 assists.

Rice had 36 goals and 48 assists and was named Atlantic Coast Conference offensive player of the year for the Orange, who fell to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA quarterfinals. Kavanagh led the Fighting Irish in both assists (25) and points (51).

The finalists for the award were selected from a pool of 25 candidates.