TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team, already the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) regular season champion, has dominated the 2026 CAA yearly and all-conference awards, announced by the league on Wednesday.
 
Highlighting Towson's selections are three CAA major awards.  Mikey Weisshaar repeats as CAA Offensive Player of the Year, being a unanimous selection, Matt Nilan earns his first CAA Defensive Player of the Year while Shawn Nadelen is, for the fifth time, the CAA Coach of the Year.
 
It is the third straight year and fourth overall where Towson has earned the CAA Offensive Player of the Year, including Weisshaar winning in 2025 and 2026.  Nilan earns Towson's first CAA Defensive Player of the Year selection since 2018 while Nadelen was awarded CAA Coach of the Year for the third year in a row and fourth since 2022.
 
As a team, Towson earned nine All-CAA selections, including five on the first team.  Weisshaar, Nilan, Kai Lopez, Elijah Smith and Joaquin Villagomez were honored as All-CAA First Team while Joe Meidling, Alex Roussel, Ryan Schrier and Joe'll Spagnuolo were selected as All-CAA Second Team.
 
Five All-CAA First Team players are the most in the league this season and the most for Towson since having six selections on the first team in 2017.  Nine total selections ties 2017 for the most amount of All-CAA players for Towson in a single season.
 
Three more Tigers were placed on the CAA All-Rookie Team: David Bertoline Jr., Trevor Phipps and Will Schoonmaker.  Towson has the most all-rookie selections on the 10-person team.
 
The league's yearly and all-conference awards are nominated and voted on by the league's head coaches.  Head coaches could not vote for their own players.
 
Weisshaar continues to add to his trophy case, earning All-CAA First Team for the third year running.  Towson's all-time points leader is the CAA leader in goals, assists and points, totaling 64 points off 42 goals and 22 assists.  Earning multiple goals and at least three points in 12 games this season, the senior attack has earned multiple honors, including Tewaaraton Trophy nominee and Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American.
 
Nilan earns both awards in his first year as Towson's starting goalkeeper.  The redshirt junior was a four-time CAA Defensive Player of the Week this season and is the league leader with a 55.4% save rate and a 9.71 goals allowed average.  Nilan had nine games this year, out of 12 full contests played, with double digit saves.
 
Nadelen now has the most CAA Coach of the Year selections since the league started men's lacrosse in 2001, surpassing Greg Cannella of UMass with four.  The 15^th-year head coach led Towson to its third consecutive undefeated CAA regular season and a current 10-3 record, including a victory over now No. 8 Virginia in March.
 
Lopez earns his first all-conference selection in his first year of being Towson's primary faceoff man.  The sophomore is the CAA leader in faceoff win rate at 62.2% and ground balls per game at 7.0 per contest, winning more than 50% faceoffs in nine of 11 games played this year.
 
Smith notches his first All-CAA honor as a starter on close defense, starting all 13 games with 24 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.  On defense, the senior from Nebraska had at least one caused turnover in eight games this season.
 
Villagomez also is a first-time All-CAA player in 2026.  Starting all 13 games on attack, the redshirt junior and four-time CAA Offensive Player of the Week this year is second in the league with 4.15 points per game, totaling 54 points off 34 goals and 20 assists, including seven hat tricks.
 
Meidling is an All-CAA player for the first time.  Towson's primary SSDM, a team captain and member of the faceoff wing unit, the senior stands with 26 ground balls, 11 caused turnovers, two goals and two assists, having at least one caused turnover in eight contests.
 
Roussel is chosen as an All-CAA honoree for the first time.  The senior attack from Alberta, Ontario, Canada was the USA Lacrosse Men's DI Player of the Week with nine points in the win at Virginia and a two-time CAA Offensive Player of the Week, currently having 33 goals and 15 assists for 48 points.
 
Schrier has his first-ever All-CAA selection for Towson.  The redshirt junior midfielder and team captain has been a fixture on the second line, having nine goals, 10 assists and eight ground balls in 13 games, having a point scored in 12 contests this year.
 
Spagnoulo joins the All-CAA ranks for his first all-league placement.  Moving from close defense to LSM early in the season, the junior is third in the CAA with 18 caused turnovers plus adds 22 ground balls.  12 of his 18 caused turnovers came against league opponents.
 
Bertoline has started 10 games on close defense in his first year playing at Towson, being the team's leader among non-faceoff players in ground balls with 35, having five games with at least five ground balls.  The redshirt freshman also has six caused turnovers.
 
Phipps earned his spot on the first midfield line with nine starts as a true freshman.  The March 23 CAA Rookie of the Week enters the CAA Tournament with 11 goals, three assists and 13 ground balls.
 
Schoonmaker has started all 13 games for Towson on the first midfield line.  Being the CAA Rookie of the Week on March 16, the true freshman stands with 12 goals and 14 ground balls, having at least one goal in his first seven games this year.
 
The Tigers will host 4-seed Monmouth on Thursday, April 30 at 4 p.m. to begin the 2026 CAA Tournament at Unitas Stadium.  Tickets for the tournament are available here: https://am.ticketmaster.com/towson/buy/caamlaxchampionship

2026 CAA Yearly, All-Conference Awards – Towson
Offensive Player of the Year (unanimous) – Mikey Weisshaar
Defensive Player of the Year – Matt Nilan
Coach of the Year – Shawn Nadelen
 
All-CAA First Team
--Joaquin Villagomez – Attack
--Mikey Weisshaar – Attack
--Kai Lopez – Faceoff
--Elijah Smith – Defense
--Matt Nilan – Goalkeeper
 
All-CAA Second Team
--Alex Roussel – Attack
--Ryan Schrier – Midfield
--Joe Meidling – SSDM
--Joe'll Spagnuolo – LSM
 
CAA All-Rookie Team
--David Bertoline Jr. – Defense
--Trevor Phipps – Midfield
--Will Schoonmaker – Midfield