Big Ten Releases Men’s Lacrosse Post Season Honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference released its individual award winners, All-Big Ten teams and Sportsmanship Award recipients for men's lacrosse on Wednesday. 

Penn State’s Matt Traynor was tabbed Offensive Player of the Year and Maryland’s Will Schaller was named Defensive Player of the Year. Ohio State’s Caleb Fyock was selected as Specialist of the Year and Penn State’s Hunter Aquino was selected Freshman of the Year respectively. Nick Myers of Ohio State was a unanimous selection as Coach of the Year. 

Maryland, Ohio State and Rutgers all produced a conference-high four All-Big Ten selections. Maryland and Rutgers both had three student athletes named to the All-Big Ten Freshmen team. The 10-member first, second and freshmen teams, along with the individual awards, were voted on by conference head coaches. 

A senior, Traynor is the third consecutive Penn State player to win the award, following back-to-back winner TJ Malone. Traynor leads the conference with 44 points and is second in goals (30) and tied for fifth in assists (14). He is also the conference leader in goals and points in league play. Against Johns Hopkins, Traynor had a league best seven goals in a game. 

Schaller, a junior, has been a focal point in the Terrapins’ defense that has allowed a league lowest 7.54 goals per game on the season and 8.30 goals per game in conference play. Schaller is a three-time Big Ten defensive player of the week and has picked up 23 ground balls and caused 19 turnovers on the season. This is the fifth consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award for Maryland, and their seventh time winning the award overall. 

Fyock earns Ohio State’s fourth Specialist of the Year Award after saving 61.1% of shots on the season and 60% of shots in conference play, both league bests. Fyock was named Big Ten Specialist of the Week twice this season, and helped lead the Buckeyes to their first ever regular season title. Fyock, along with Traynor, is a nominee for the Tewaaraton Award, given to the best player in college lacrosse. 

Aquino had a breakout freshman season for the Nittany Lions and earned six Big Ten Freshmen of the Week awards. Aquino tallied 32 points on the season, good for seventh best in the Big Ten and best amongst freshmen.  

Myers led Ohio State to its first-ever outright Big Ten Championship after defeating Michigan 10-8 in Ann Arbor on April 19. The Buckeyes went 4-1 during the conference campaign and are ranked fourth nationally by USILA. 

The Big Ten also recognized six Sportsmanship Award honorees. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. 

The Big Ten Tournament begins Saturday with quarterfinal matches at Michigan and Penn State. The semifinals and championship game will be played May 1 and May 3 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

2025 BIG TEN MEN'S LACROSSE AWARDS 
 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 
Matt Traynor, Sr., M., PSU 
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 
Will Schaller, Jr., D, MD 
 
SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR: 
Caleb Fyock, So., G, OSU 
 
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: 
Hunter Aquino, Fr., A, PSU 
 
COACH OF THE YEAR: 
NICK MYERS, OSU 
 

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM: 
Logan McNaney, Gr., G, MD 
Will Schaller, Jr., D, MD 
Eric Spanos, Sr., A, MD 
Ryan Cohen, Sr., A, MICH 
Pace Billings, Gr., D, MICH 
Alex Marinier, Sr., A, OSU 
Bobby Van Buren, Gr., D, OSU 
Caleb Fyock, So., G, OSU 
Matt Traynor, Sr., M, PSU 
Cardin Stoller, So., G, RU 

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM: 
Logan Callahan, Sr., FO, JHU 
Matt Collison, Jr., M, JHU 
Scott Smith, Gr., D, JHU 
Jack McDonald, Gr., LSM, MD 
Aidan Mulholland, Sr., M, MICH 
Cullen Brown, Jr., D, OSU 
Alex Ross, Jr., D, PSU 
Colin Kurdyla, So., A, RU 
Joe Juengerkes, Gr., M, RU 
Ryan Splaine, Jr., LSM, RU 

ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMEN TEAM: 
Reece DiCicco, Fr., SS, JHU 
Jack Schultz, Fr., A, MD 
Jonah Carrier, Fr., FO, MD 
Peter Laake, Fr., D, MD 
Liam White, Fr., M, OSU 
Hunter Aquino, Fr., A, PSU 
Liam Matthews, Fr., A, PSU 
Colin Zeller, Fr., M, RU 
Haydn Sommer, Fr., M, RU 
JJ Aiello, Fr., A, RU 

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS:
Dylan Bauer, Gr., M, JHU 
Shea Keethler, Sr., FO, MD 
John Morgan, Sr., M, MICH 
Greg Langermeier, Sr., SSDM, OSU 
Richie Hughson, Sr., FO, PSU 
Colin Kelly, Gr., Sr., RU 

ALL CAPS indicates unanimous selections