Big Ten Reveals 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. 

Johns Hopkins’ Matt Collison and Oran Gelinas were selected as Offensive Player of the Year and Specialist of the Year, respectively. Ohio State’s Cullen Brown was named Defensive Player of the Year and Penn State’s Jack Iannantuono was tabbed Freshman of the Year. Peter Milliman of Johns Hopkins was named Coach of the Year. 

Ohio State produced both a conference-high five All-Big Ten and three All-Big Ten Freshman selections. The 10-member first, second, and freshmen teams, along with the individual awards, were voted on by conference head coaches. 

Collison becomes the first Johns Hopkins player to win Offensive Player of the Year since 2015, the first year the award was handed out. The senior midfielder has been vital in helping the Blue Jays claim a share of their third Big Ten title in four years. He recorded 36 points this season, including 24 goals and 12 assists. In all eight of the Blue Jays’ wins, Collison recorded three or more points. He was also named a nominee for the 
Tewaaraton Award on Saturday
, given to the best player in college lacrosse. 

Gelinas becomes the Blue Jays’ first Big Ten Specialist of the Year award winner, and the fourth goalie in a row to win the award. The senior was a steady presence in the net in conference play to help lead the Blue Jays to a regular season title, as he led the conference with 13.4 saves per game. Gelinas won four Big Ten Specialist of the Week awards this season, including one on March 31 for recording a conference-high 19 saves against Rutgers. 

Brown, a senior, has been an integral part of a Buckeyes defense that has allowed an NCAA and Big Ten low of 7.08 goals per game on the season. To help the Buckeyes to their second-consecutive share of the Big Ten title, he has tallied a conference-best 25 caused turnovers in regular season play. Against Johns Hopkins, Brown recorded five ground balls and four caused turnovers while helping hold Offensive Player of the Year Collison to his only pointless game of the season. Brown becomes the Buckeyes’ first Defensive Player of the Year since Robby Haus won the award in 2016.  

As a freshman, Iannantuono played a key role in the Nittany Lions’ share of the regular season title. He tallied 16 goals and 16 assists. His 32 points were best among freshman and ninth best in the league this season. He becomes the second-consecutive Nittany Lion to win the award. 

Milliman led Johns Hopkins to a share of its third regular season title after defeating Maryland 9-8 in Baltimore on April 18. The Blue Jays went 3-2 during the conference campaign to earn the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and are ranked sixth 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 Maryland and Ohio State. The semifinals and championship games will be played April 30 and May 2 in Piscataway, N.J.  

2026 BIG TEN MEN’S LACROSSE AWARDS 

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 
Matt Collison, Sr., M, Johns Hopkins 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 
Cullen Brown, Sr., D, Ohio State 

SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR: 
Oran Gelinas, Sr., G, Johns Hopkins 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: 
Jack Iannantuono, Fr., A, Penn State 

COACH OF THE YEAR: 
Peter Milliman, Johns Hopkins 

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM: 
MATT COLLISON, Sr., M, Johns Hopkins 
Oran Gelinas, Sr., G, Johns Hopkins 
AJ LARKIN, Sr., D, Maryland 
Henry Dodge, Sr., FO, Maryland 
Leo Johnson, Grad., A, Maryland 
Rowan Clay, Jr., D, Michigan 
Caleb Fyock, Jr., G, Ohio State 
Cullen Brown, Sr., D, Ohio State 
Alex Ross, Sr., D, Penn State 
Joe Juengerkes, Grad., SSDM, Rutgers 

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM: 
Carson Brown, Sr., D, Johns Hopkins 
Hunter Chauvette, Jr., A, Johns Hopkins 
Eric Spanos, Grad., A, Maryland 
Nick Roode, Jr., A, Michigan 
Blake Eiland, Sr., DM, Ohio State 
Jack Oldman, Jr., FO, Ohio State 
Kyle Foster, Jr., D, Ohio State 
Jon King, Sr., SSDM, Penn State 
Cardin Stoller, R-Jr., G, Rutgers 
Colin Kurdyla, Jr., A, Rutgers 

ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM: 
Parker Sorenson, D/LSM, Johns Hopkins 
MATT HIGGINS, A, Maryland 
ADAM UDELL, A, Michigan 
LUKE SHANNEHAN, D, Michigan 
Khalif Hocker, A, Ohio State 
Matt Mayfield, FO, Ohio State 
Jake Struck, M, Ohio State 
JACK IANNANTUONO, A, Penn State 
Preston Hawkins, G, Penn State 
Dylan Finder, SSDM, Rutgers 

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS:
Carson Brown, Sr., D, Johns Hopkins 
Trace Davidson, Sr., D, Maryland 
Jack Welcsh, Grad., M, Michigan 
Griffin Liedel, Sr., LSM, Ohio State 
Mark Mckeon, Sr., SSDM, Penn State 
Ben McKelvy, Grad., D, Rutgers 

ALL CAPS indicates unanimous selections