NLL Player Award Winners for Weeks #14 and #15

Back in September at the 2011 NLL Entry Draft, the Rochester Knighthawks traded forward Shawn Evans to the Calgary Roughnecks for a first-round draft pick. The Knighthawks used that selection to draft Johnny Powless.

Those two, along with Anthony Cosmo and Tyler Hass, have been named the National Lacrosse League's Players of the Week for Week 14.

Evans won his second Offensive Player of the Week award with a dominant performance while facing his former team for the first time. Evans had three goals and six assists to match a season high with nine points and collected two loose balls as Calgary held off the Knighthawks 15-14 last Friday.

Powless, meanwhile, was selected as Rookie of the Week for the second time after the best game of his brief career. He registered his third career hat trick, added four assists for a season-high seven points and picked up three loose balls in the one-goal loss to the Roughnecks.

Cosmo earned Defensive Player of the Week honors after getting his first win in a Buffalo Bandits uniform. He stopped 46 of 53 shots and gave up only one second-half goal Saturday in a 17-7 win over Philadelphia.

Minnesota's Tyler Hass won the Transition Player of the Week for the first time this season. Hass led the Swarm with a season-high four goals, added an assist and a team high-tying 10 loose balls Friday in their 13-9 win over Philadelphia.

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Stephan Leblanc, Kyle Rubisch, Jordan MacIntosh and Johnny Powless have won the National Lacrosse League's Player of the Week awards for Week 15.

Leblanc earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after tying season highs for goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine) to lead Toronto in scoring during its 19-12 loss to Colorado on Saturday. He also picked up five loose balls. Leblanc is the fourth member of the Rock to be selected as the week's top offensive player in 2012, joining Josh Sanderson, Kasey Beirnes and Garrett Billings.

Rubisch is picked as Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this year. He led Edmonton with nine loose balls, drew an assist and forced three turnovers in Saturday's 11-8 win over Buffalo. The win moved Edmonton closer to clinching a playoff berth.

MacIntosh won the Transition Player of the Week award for the first time in his career. He scored twice, drew one assist and led Minnesota with nine loose balls in its playoff berth-clinching 14-9 win over Washington last Saturday. Minnesota clinched a playoff berth with the win. The fourth overall pick in the 2011 NLL Entry Draft won Rookie of the Week in Week 4.

For the second consecutive week, though, the top rookie award went to Rochester's Johnny Powless. Taken one pick after MacIntosh last September, Powless tied career highs with three goals, four assists and seven points, and picked up three loose balls in the Knighthawks' 14-12 win over Calgary on Saturday. The win combined with the Minnesota win over Washington later that evening clinched a playoff berth for the Knighthawks. It's the third Rookie of the Week award for Powless.

2012-04-18