Just a quick email here as we met last week to vote on our team awards for the 2013 season. It remains one of my favorite days of the season just as it was when I was a player. Having teammates talk about the best qualities in each other and what we value as a team is an incredibly rewarding as a coach. To hear the older players articulate what Middlebury lacrosse is all about is a great message for anyone, especially our younger guys. It's not the same without Peter there to usher nominees in and out of the room while the team talks about them, but we always remind the team of that tradition as well.

Lou Munro MVP – we had seven guys receive votes for this award including Darric White, Mike Giordano, Nate Gaudio, Jon Broome, and Erich Pfeffer. The co – MVP's – Billy Chapman and Andrew Metros were truly deserving for their contributions at both ends of the field this year and interestingly enough were also our last two Ric Rosbeck award winners. Billy was a difference maker on the defensive end, on the wing, and as I mentioned numerous times in my game summaries, on the offensive end as well (4g,3a). Andrew was not only our top defensive midfielder but turned into one of the best offensive midfielders in the league by the end of the season (21g, 15a). We have big shoes to fill all over the field next year but these two seniors will be sorely missed.

Ric Rosbeck MIP – We also had seven members of the team receive votes for MIP including John Montgomery, Erich Pfeffer, Stephen Brown, Scott Redmond, Gabe Weissmann, and Andrew Metros. The MIP went to Chris Peterson for the way he elevated his game this year in his role as a defensive middie in the 2nd half of the season. Starting in the Trinity game we began to use Chris as a full time defensive midfielder and by the end of the year Coach Ritter was putting him out there during critical moments in big games. Chris was playing at a very high level by the end of the season and it was all because he had plugged in mentally, we're hoping he can bring the same kind of determination and drive to the team again next year. It's also worth noting that Andrew Metros was within a few votes of winning his 2nd consecutive MIP as he took his game from being a solid contributor last year to arguably the most dynamic midfielder in the league this season.

Baggattaway Award – members of the team that were nominated and received votes included Zach Driscoll, Patrick Pembroke, Stew Kerr, Billy Chapman, Jack Reilly, and Nate Gaudio. The award went to Johnny Duvnjak for the leadership he displayed throughout the school year and the direction he gave this group starting this time last year. While guys like Zach and Billy are the ones who bring energy and some levity to practice, Johnny is all business. As I got to know Johnny throughout the recruiting process five years ago, I decided he was exactly the kind of person and leader I wanted to have in our program at Middlebury. There may have been other guys out there with better 40 times and that threw better checks but this kid was a winner and was going to make everyone around him better. There were many great things said about Johnny in the meeting but the one that may resonate the most with this group is as one team member put it "30 years from now, Johnny is going to be just like Bobo Sideli, getting everyone excited to go out to Vail and stay involved in the program", high praise for Johnny indeed.

Finally, we'll have a solo captain for the 2014 season for the first time since I've been at Middlebury and since 2002? Nate Gaudio was a unanimous selection by his teammates, something I haven't seen in my 13 years of coaching college lacrosse. Just as our graduating seniors did this year, we'll need a number of the rising seniors to step up in order to lift some of the weight off of Nate's shoulders. I have no doubt they will. This departing senior class did an outstanding job of showing the underclassmen how to lead in different ways by all giving what they could to this team and by staying true to themselves. There was nothing forced, they showed everyone how much they cared about the team by holding themselves and their teammates to a very high standard. It was fun to watch.

I'm wrapping up my individual meetings with all of our returning players this morning and it's exciting to think about who will nominated for some of these awards next year. We certainly have some big holes to fill but what a great opportunity for our younger guys. ONWARD.