Dox Aitken, Michael Kraus earn spots on All-ACC team, Tewaaraton finalist list

Virginia Men’s Lacrosse is making their triumphant return to the ACC tournament this weekend, and a duo of bonafide stars are leading the way for the Hoos. The ACC announced Thursday afternoon the 2018 All-ACC team, highlighted by Virginia midfielder Dox Aitken and attackman Michael Kraus, both second years.

Kraus leads the team in goals, assists, and points with 38, 33, and 71, respectively. His 5.07 points per game is good for ninth in the NCAA and second in the ACC, behind just Duke’s Justin Guterding. Last week against Vermont, Kraus notched the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter to secure a 10-9 win for the Hoos on his hometown field in New Caanan, Connecticut.

Aitken is second on the team in goals (32) and points (42) this season. He became just the 12th midfielder in Virginia history to record 30 goals in a season and is the fastest midfielder in school history to reach 50 career goals (25 games).

Individual awards will be announced early next week by the league.

The 2018 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse team:

• A - Justin Guterding, Sr., Duke
• A - Chris Cloutier, Sr., North Carolina
• A - Brendan Gleason, Jr., Notre Dame
• A - Nate Solomon, Jr., Syracuse
• A - Michael Kraus, So., Virginia
• M - Brad Smith, Jr., Duke
• M - Bryan Costabile, So., Notre Dame
• M - Jamie Trimboli, So., Syracuse
• M - Dox Aitken, So., Virginia
• D - Cade Van Raaphorst, Jr., Duke
• D - Nick Mellen, R-So., Syracuse
• D - Brett Kennedy, R-Fr., Syracuse
• SSM - Carlson Milikin, GS, Notre Dame
• SSM - Drew Schantz, Jr., Notre Dame
• LSM - Jack Rowlett, Jr., North Carolina
• LSM - John Sexton, Sr., Notre Dame
• F/O - Joe Stein, Fr., Duke
• G - Danny Fowler, GS, Duke

Shortly after the announcement of the all-conference team, the Tewaaraton Award narrowed their watch-list to 25 semifinalists. Both Kraus and Aitken are still in the running to win the award, which goes to the top player in college lacrosse.

Virginia has three previous winners of the Tewaaraton in Chris Rotelli (2003), Matt Ward (2006), and Steele Stanwick (2011). Syracuse and Virginia are the only schools with three Tewaaraton winners since the award started in 2001.

The 25 Tewaaraton Award finalists:

• Dox Aitken, Virginia - Soph., Midfield
• Gerard Arceri, Penn State - Soph., Faceoff
• Trevor Baptiste, Denver - Sr., Faceoff
• Jared Bernhardt, Maryland - Soph., Attack
• Dan Bucaro, Georgetown - Jr., Attack
• Jack Concannon, Hofstra - Sr., Goalie
• Christian Cuccinello, Villanova - Sr., Attack
• Connor Fields, Albany - Sr., Attack
• Zach Goodrich, Towson - Jr., Midfield
• Justin Guterding, Duke - Sr., Attack
• Jules Heningburg, Rutgers - Sr., Attack
• Foster Huggins, Loyola - Sr., Defense
• TD Ierlan, Albany - Soph., Faceoff
• Connor Kelly, Maryland - Sr., Midfield
• Michael Kraus, Virginia - Soph., Attack
• Ian Mackay, Vermont - Sr., Midfield
• Ben Randall, Ohio State - Sr., Defense
• Ben Reeves, Yale - Sr., Attack
• Will Sands, Bucknell - Sr., Attack
• John Sexton, Notre Dame - Sr., Long Stick Midfield
• Michael Sowers, Princeton - Soph., Attack
• Pat Spencer, Loyola - Jr., Attack
• Jeff Teat, Cornell - Soph., Attack
• Joel Tinney, Hopkins - Sr., Midfield
• Ethan Walker, Denver - Soph., Attack

Kraus and Aitken will look to help the Hoos take down Syracuse in the second semifinal of the ACC tournament Friday night in Charlottesville.