Taylor Cummings is a three-time Tewaaraton winner, a member of Team USA and the head coach at McDonogh (Md.) . "Taylor's Takes" is presented by Gait Lacrosse. Be legendary.

We’ve hit the time of the season when all eyes go to three things — conference tournaments, the NCAA tournament and the Tewaaraton Award.

Last week, I mentioned that conference tournaments were going to be more exciting than ever, and now that we have the official brackets for several conferences, that’s a guarantee. After this upcoming final week of conference play, we will also have a better idea of the NCAA tournament picture — which we will discuss thoroughly.

With all that being said, we now have one topic remaining to cover — the Tewaaraton. The foundation just announced its 25 nominees for player of the year, so what better time to do a round one, top-five selection than now?

For those who do not know, the Tewaaraton Award is given at the end of the each season to the best male and female lacrosse players and is thought of as the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse. As the Tewaaraton Foundation’s website explains, “Lacrosse is one of the oldest team sports played in North America. Rooted in centuries of Native American tradition, the game took on many variations before reaching its present day form. ‘Tewaaraton’ is the Mohawk name for their game and the progenitor of present day lacrosse.”

To learn more about the history of the game of lacrosse and the Tewaaraton Foundation, please visit https://tewaaraton.com.

Although this award is an individual one, most (if not all) of the recipients view the Tewaaraton as a team award because without their teams, they wouldn’t even be on that stage to be considered — let alone win. While we still have much more lacrosse to play (yay!) and players across the country will continue to impress, these are my picks for the Tewaaraton top five if the ceremony was next weekend.

Taylor’s Tewaaraton Top Five

Izzy Scane, Northwestern

The Scane Train hype is real and for good reason. Izzy Scane is a force to be reckoned with this year for the Wildcats. She’s an incredible athlete with a powerful shot, but what sets her apart is her vision and composure.

Scane is never frantic, even in double- and triple-teams, and she constantly keeps her head up to hit teammates with spot-on feeds. Northwestern has been cruising through the Big Ten with ease, and she is an integral reason why. Scane has 70 goals, 18 assists, and a shooting percentage of 52.5 through 11 regular season games.

Charlotte North, Boston College

When you watch a BC game, it doesn’t take much to notice Charlotte North. She has dazzled the lacrosse world all season long with her creative play, overwhelming passion for the game and sniper-like shooting capabilities.

Under the eye of assistant coach Kayla Treanor, North has become one of the deadliest attackers in the game who can expose defenses in a multitude of ways. She can dodge, she can feed, she can cut and she can rip it from anywhere at any time. North has 62 goals, nine assists and 123 draw controls through the regular season. 

Jamie Ortega, North Carolina

Ortega is one of the greatest all-around attackers that the game has seen in recent memory. She is as slippery as they come, able to use her quick feet and smooth stick to slide through defenses with apparent ease.

Ortega truly is the ultimate triple-threat attacker who can feed with precision, dodge with athleticism and cut inside defenses like a knife going through butter. Ortega is the glue to Carolina’s high-powered offense that is outscoring opponents by 10-plus goals a game. She currently has 61 goals, 19 assists, and a 70.9 shooting percentage before the Tar Heels enter the ACC tournament.

Taylor Moreno, North Carolina

On a team where the offense often gets the glory, UNC’s Taylor Moreno has been the anchor to one of the best defenses in the country. Moreno has a confidence and swagger about her play in cage that you can’t help but get excited about.

She also has some of the best hands and quickest reaction time that I’ve seen in a goalie in a long time. Her play throughout the year has been nothing short of impressive. Currently, Moreno boasts a 56.4 save percentage in the best lacrosse conference in the country and has the ability to improve that throughout the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Lizzie Colson, Maryland

Colson has come off her knee injury with a fire in her belly and a confidence in her play that is so fantastic to see. She has led the Terps on the defensive end all season long as their number one mark-up defender while also playing a major role in the draw circle.

Her quick first step, grittiness between the 30s and fast hands allow her to dominate the defensive end while also snagging in loose balls and creating checks. Colson has 44 ground balls, 37 caused turnovers and 57 draw controls. 

Taylor’s Top 10 Teams

1. North Carolina (15-0)
2. Northwestern (11-0)
3. Syracuse (12-2)
4. Boston College (12-2)
5. Notre Dame (8-5)
6. Duke (9-6)
7. Stony Brook (10-2)
8. Florida (12-2)
9. Drexel (12-1)
10. Virginia (8-6)