Maryland men’s lacrosse received a bevy of Big Ten yearly awards on Wednesday, the conference announced.
Ajax Zappitello led the Terps’ honors, claiming the Big Ten Defender of the Year award and a spot on the All-Big Ten first team. The senior landed on the All-Big Ten first team for the second straight season.
Zappitello starred as the leader of Maryland’s defense this year. The unit has allowed less than 10 goals per game — ranking third in the conference — which included single-digits in each of the Terps’ final three regular season outings. Zappitello caused a team-high 18 turnovers in the regular season, tied for the third-most caused turnovers per game in the conference.
Zappitello, a Portland native, became the fifth Terp to be named the Big Ten Defender of the Year. Zappitello was named a Tewaaraton Award nominee last week, along with faceoff specialist Luke Wierman.
[Maryland men’s lacrosse always has a defensive ace in Ajax Zappitello]
Wierman and midfielder Eric Spanos were both named to the All-Big Ten second team.
Spanos earned an All-Big Ten honor for the first time in his career after becoming a full-time starter for Maryland. The junior totaled the third-most goals for the Terps in the regular season, including a pair of four-goal games against Princeton and Ohio State. He was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after each of those outings.
Wierman’s honor is the third yearly conference award of his career. He landed on the All-Big Ten first team in each of the past two campaigns.
Wierman ended the regular season with the second-best faceoff win percentage and the second most ground balls secured in the conference. The graduate student became Maryland’s all-time faceoff wins leader after the Terps’ season-opening win over Richmond.
Senior midfielder Gabe Goforth was named the Terps’ Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Maryland readies for the Big Ten tournament next, facing either Penn State or Rutgers in the conference semifinals on May 2.
