College Lacrosse's Top Senior Attackmen in 2020

Through the first few weeks of college lacrosse action, we have been treated to nothing short of the spectacular from some of the highly-touted senior attackmen in this year’s PLL draft class.

From the outside looking in, it seems like this is going to be a draft that is dominated by attackmen. This year's group is deep. They’re talented and versatile, and it seems like each player has his own plethora of ways to beat a defense. On April 21, each of the PLL’s seven clubs will select four players in the College Draft ahead of the league’s second season in 2020. With a few games and a handful of highlights already under some of these superstars’ belts, don’t expect them to slow down any time soon.

These guys are only getting comfortable. Wait until they settle into the driver’s seat and step on the gas.

As a result of the league’s unique playoff format, which features a competitive bracket to determine college draft seeding, the first round is set to have Chris Bates and the Archers select first overall, followed by the Atlas, Waterdogs, Chrome, Chaos, Redwoods and the defending champion Whipsnakes. The Waterdogs will have the first pick in rounds two, three and four, and the rest of the pack will be in the same order as round one except for the handful of picks swapped in the six trades that we’ve seen so far leading up to this draft.

Yes, I know what you’re telling yourself. It’s the beginning of March and we haven’t even reached the Entry Draft (which is set for March 16), but for the seven head coaches of the PLL, the opportunity to improve their teams began when the final whistle blew in September. The College Draft is one of those special opportunities to add the last pieces to a championship team’s puzzle. It’s one of those things that each head coach needs to get right to improve his team before the start of the season.

So without further adieu, let’s take a look at eleven of college lacrosse’s top senior attackmen that we may see go off the board in April.

I don’t want to be the guy to predict who the first overall pick is going to be with three months of college lacrosse action left this season, especially with the Entry Draft in two weeks, but Princeton attackman Michael Sowers might be making this a very easy decision for whoever ends up picking at number one. The 5’ 9” senior is Princeton’s all-time leading scorer with 297 career points on 118 goals and 179 assists. He is second all-time in Division I history in points-per-game and fourth in assists-per-game. He is one of three players in Ivy League history with at least 100 goals and 150 assists in a career, and he has been an All-Ivy League selection in each of his three seasons at Princeton.

Sowers settled into 2020 very quickly. Just last week, he broke the Ivy League record for points in a game with 14 against Colgate, and yesterday afternoon, he dished off seven assists on top of two goals in an 18-11 win over Johns Hopkins. He’s averaging ten points per game, and right now, he’s doing everything that was expected of him and more as his team gets off to a fast 4-0 start. He carries from behind the goal, from the wing, and sometimes he even roams his way up top and runs the point. He’s creating for himself and for his teammates, and it’s a big reason why Princeton is undefeated and pushing their way into college lacrosse’s top-10 rankings.

It’s easy to see why everyone loves watching Michael Sowers. He’s a smaller attackman, but he uses that to his advantage with his speed and quickness. He explodes into his dodges and has a phenomenal change of direction, ready to dish it or rip it once he finds space and gets his hands free. Aside from his phenomenal stats and highlights, flexibility is what makes him most valuable to any team. He finds ways to get to the cage fast and manages to draw early slides that lead to open teammates in front of the goal, and if no slide comes, he’ll go himself. He thrives in transition and can dodge like a midfielder, quickly becoming one of the most dynamic players in all of lacrosse.

It’s interesting to imagine what might be going through Chris Bates’s head at a time like this. The Archers head coach was at the helm of the same Princeton program for seven seasons and was a key contributor in recruiting Sowers to play in orange and black. Although he never got to coach Sowers, his offensive system is still in place, an offense that Sowers has thrived in and will until May.

With the first overall pick, Bates now has his chance to coach one of the best offensive players in college lacrosse history.

Lacrosse-wise, this is a no-brainer. Marcus Holman and Will Manny combined for 68 goals in 2019, more than any other duo in the league. Christian Cuccinello factored in as the third attackman for much of the season, tallying eight goals and four assists, but he was left unprotected and drafted by the Waterdogs in the Expansion Draft. Joey Sankey and Princeton alumn Ryan Ambler played well last season, but Sowers brings another dimension to this offense that could drive defensive coaches crazy. Holman and Manny both ranked in the top five in shooting % from their respective sides of the field. Factor in Sowers to run behind the goal, and this might be one of the most lethal attacks in the league.

Now, this does not mean he will be taken first overall, it’s just a likely possibility. There are a lot of other possibilities, like two Penn State attackmen that are helping their team make a serious case for the top team in the nation despite an early-season loss to Yale. Grant Ament and Mac O’Keefe are what we call a perfect match when it comes to attackmen; a world-class distributor and an exceptional scorer. Ament ranks first in Penn State program history with 270 points and 181 assists and was a 2019 Tewaaraton Finalist. He’s already handed out 23 assists so far this season, and he’s on pace to break his own Big Ten single-season record for points. O’Keefe plays opposite Ament and set a program record with 78 goals last season. He holds the program record with 185 goals and has been compared to some of the greatest shooters in the game. He has 22 goals this season through five games, including a game-winner against Penn in overtime this past weekend.

Although Ament and O’Keefe don’t have quite the career stat line that Sowers does (Ament trails Sowers in career points by 27), it’s interesting to see how all three players break down by season. Sowers was much more effective in his first two seasons than the Penn State products were. He averaged 82.5 points compared to Ament’s 57 and O’Keefe’s 51, but in 2019, which was the junior season for all three players (Ament’s redshirt junior season), Ament and O’Keefe both had more points than Sowers. Ament had 36 more. The 2020 season, however, has been all Sowers, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.

Moral of it all, all three of these guys are great and any of them could be the first pick in April. Ament, however, is more interesting when discussing first pick possibilities. Like Sowers, he operates from behind the goal and is one of the best when it comes to finding open teammates off dodges and the two-man game. He would fit perfectly with Holman and Manny if the Archers were to take him; on the contrary, Mac O’Keefe doesn’t. O’Keefe plays a similar role at Penn State that Manny plays with the Archers, so it wouldn’t make sense for Chris Bates to select him when he can address other holes in his roster, but look for other coaches in the league to fall in love with one of college lacrosse’s top goal-scorers.

(As a note, this is not a mock draft. I am simply previewing some of the top attackmen available. Our first mock draft will be available following the Entry Draft)

But we would be doing a great injustice to limit this race to only three. Virginia attackman Michael Kraus is another name that coaches are circling as the draft gets closer. He has scored 128 career goals from his lefty attack spot and has 104 assists in his career in Charlottesville, and he already has 14 goals and eight assists this season. He scored a hat trick to help his team win the national championship in 2019, and he’s averaged 79 points over the last two seasons. He is a leader and a game-changer that could produce for any offense. In Virginia’s 18-15 win against High Point last week, Kraus scored five goals and had two assists while fighting the flu.

Jared Bernhardt is one of the most versatile players in this draft, as he plays both midfield and attack very well. A 2019 Tewaaraton finalist, back-to-back First Team All-Big 10, and a three-time All-American, the Maryland product was not nearly as effective in his first two collegiate seasons as Sowers, Ament, or O’Keefe, and he didn’t put up the same numbers in 2019 either. However, his versatility to play two positions and play them well has made him one of the top senior prospects, and his 111 career goals makes him a goalscorer that any coach would love to have on his roster.

Ethan Walker is another 200 point scorer. Over his first two seasons, the Denver attackman averaged 71 points, which took a sudden dip in 2019 to 52. Despite the drop in production in his junior year, Walker is a phenomenal lefty shooter, and in four games this season, he has totaled six goals and eight assists. Cornell attackman Jeff Teat is similar to Michael Sowers in how they both have been contributing since stepping foot on their respective campuses. Teat, a back-to-back First-Team All-Ivy selection, averaged 80.3 points in his first three seasons and led the Big Red in points and assists over all three and goals in the first two. Thus far this season, the Ontario native has nine goals and twelve assists in four games.

Jake Carraway is another player to keep an eye on as this season progresses along. In 2019, he scored 57 goals and tallied 31 assists on his way to a First Team All-Big East selection, helping Georgetown win their second straight Big East Championship. The righty found the back of the net in every game, posting four hat tricks, five four-goal contests, and three five-goal performances. In five games this season, he has 20 goals and nine assists, and he is on pace to break his single-season mark in goals from a year ago. He has a hat trick in every game this season.

Jackson Morrill was First Team All-Ivy last season along with Sowers and Teat,

putting together a stellar 46 goal and 48 assist season. Through three games this season, the Yale attackman has been held to just nine points, but expect to see Morrill start getting more involved offensively as his team prepares for a deep postseason run. Be sure to also keep an eye on Penn’s all-time leading scorer Adam Goldner. The 2019 All-Ivy second teamer found the back of the net 56 times last season and recently surpassed the 100 goal mark.

And finally, for our final attackman, we look to Merrimack superstar Charlie Bertrand. Bertrand was one of the best players in Division II lacrosse, and the three-time NEC First-Team All American has the numbers to prove it. The 6’3”, 220-pound lefty has 271 career points thanks impart to 208 career goals. With Merrimack now playing in Division I action, expect to hear a lot more buzz around Bertrand as the season moves along and as we slowly approach the College Draft. He has 17 goals over five games.

So, there you have it. Eleven names that we hope to see suiting up for the PLL this summer and into the future. Over the next two weeks leading up to the Entry Draft, we will be previewing the best players at each position, so make sure to stay tuned for that.

As for the players, like I said before, these guys are just getting comfy. They’ll be in a groove before you know it. I mean, as long as it’s before May 29