CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame senior long-stick midfielder Will Donovan has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 2026 Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year and heads the All-ACC Academic Men’s Lacrosse Team, announced Thursday by the league office.
The Greenwich, Connecticut, native earned First-Team All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse, the USILA and USA Lacrosse this year as he picked up All-America recognition for the fourth year in a row. He also was an All-ACC honoree for the fourth straight season. The team captain appeared in all 16 of the Fighting Irish’s games as the primary LSM as Notre Dame won the ACC regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game. He registered 46 ground balls, 16 caused turnovers and an assist. His total of 46 ground balls was the most on the team by a non-FOGO.
A four-time All-ACC Academic Team honoree, the finance major was the recipient of the ACC Excellence Award this year.
Donovan was selected by the Boston Cannons of the Premier Lacrosse League with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2026 PLL Draft.
The All-ACC Academic Team includes 14 student-athletes who earned spots on the Inside Lacrosse All-America first, second and third teams this season, including Tewaaraton Award winner Shawn Lyght of Notre Dame. Thirteen of the 18 members of the 2026 All-ACC Team also were named to the All-ACC Academic Team, including four of the ACC’s season award honorees – Lyght and North Carolina’s Brady Wambach (Co-Defensive Player of the Year), Notre Dame’s Thomas Ricciardelli (Goalie of the Year) and Virginia’s Brendan Millon (Freshman of the Year).
The 2026 All-ACC Academic Team features 88 student-athletes from the league’s five men’s lacrosse programs. Duke led all schools with 24 honorees.
Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests. Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees must be an undergraduate student-athlete who is an upperclassman and has been enrolled at the institution for at least one academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.0, including a 3.0 in the most recent two semesters or three quarters.
2026 Men’s Lacrosse All-ACC Academic Team
Henry Bard, Duke, D, Sr., Economics
Colin Christmas, Duke, LSM, Jr., Political Science
Buck Cunningham, Duke, G, So., Political Science
Tomas Delgado, Duke, M, Jr., Economics
Anthony Drago, Duke, M, Fr., Undeclared
Luke Engelke, Duke, FO, Sr., Political Science
Cal Girard, Duke, FO, Jr., Political Science
Patrick Jameison, Duke, G, Jr., Economics
Zachary Jepson, Duke, LSM, Sr., Mechanical Engineering
Charlie Johnson, Duke, D, Sr., Political Science
Benn Johnston, Duke, A, Jr., Political Science
Liam Kershis, Duke, M, So., Political Science
Aidan Maguire, Duke, SSDM, Sr., Political Science
Benn McCarthy, Duke, FO, So., Economics
Owen Mears, Duke, SSDM, Fr., Undeclared
Nikolas Menendez, Duke, D, So., Economics
Connor Nolen, Duke, SSDM, So., Economics
Michael Ortlieb, Duke, A, Fr., Undeclared
Jack Pappendick, Duke, M, Sr., Political Science
William Pedicano, Duke, LSM, Fr., Undeclared
Brady Scioletti, Duke, M, Fr., Undeclared
Max Sloat, Duke, M, Sr., Economics
William Tantillo, Duke, SSDM, Fr., Undeclared
Luke Warrington, Duke, SSDM, So., Economics
Cole Aasheim, North Carolina, D, Jr., Management and Society
Luke Bair, North Carolina, M, Fr., Business Administration
Chase Cellucci, North Carolina, D, So., Business Administration
Owen Dixon, North Carolina, A, Jr., Economics
Owen Duffy, North Carolina, A, Jr., Management and Society
Caswell Friedman, North Carolina, M, Fr., Business Administration
Colin Hannigan, North Carolina, FO, Sr., Economics
Caden Harshbarger, North Carolina, M, So., Business Administration
Parker Hoffman, North Carolina, FO, So., Business Administration
Brett Koopman, North Carolina, LSM, Jr., Exercise and Sport Science
Luke Macaluso, North Carolina, M, So., Business Administration
Josh Marcus, North Carolina, G, Fr., Business Administration
Parker McDonald, North Carolina, LSM, Fr., Business Administration
Gary Merrill, North Carolina, M, Fr., Business Administration
Andrew Preis, North Carolina, M, Jr., Economics
Nate Sage, North Carolina, A, Fr., Economics
Mason Szewczyk, North Carolina, M, So., Business Administration
Peter Thomann, North Carolina, LSM, Jr., Management and Society
Brady Wambach, North Carolina, FO, Jr., Management and Society
Brevin Wilson, North Carolina, A, So., Business Administration
Matt Wrede, North Carolina, A, Sr., Management and Society
Christian Alacqua, Notre Dame, SSDM, Sr., Finance
Brock Behrman, Notre Dame, A, Jr., Finance
Kyle Bergen, Notre Dame, SSDM, So., Finance
Max Busenkell, Notre Dame, M, Sr., Finance
Aidan Diaz-Matos, Notre Dame, FO, Fr., Strategic Management
William Donovan, Notre Dame, LSM, Sr., Finance
William Gallagher, Notre Dame, D, Sr., Finance
Miguel Iglesias, Notre Dame, SSDM, Fr., Finance
Edward Lally, Notre Dame, A, Fr., Finance
Shawn Lyght, Notre Dame, D, Jr., Strategic Management
William Maheras, Notre Dame, M, Sr., Finance
Luke Miller, Notre Dame, A, So., Finance
Thomas Ricciardelli, Notre Dame, G, Sr., Finance
Nathaniel Schwitzenberg, Notre Dame, D, Jr., Finance
Tyler Spano, Notre Dame, FO, Jr., Anthropology
Payton Anderson, Syracuse, A/M, So., Economics
Riley Figueiras, Syracuse, D, Sr., HealthExSci
Joseph Filardi, Syracuse, D, Fr., CommRhetStudies
Wyatt Hottle, Syracuse, M, Jr., Finance
Tucker Kellogg, Syracuse, M, Jr., History
Charles Kuczynski, Syracuse, D, Sr., Earth Science
Tyler McCarthy, Syracuse, M, Jr., Economics
Dylan Sageder, Syracuse, LSM, Sr., Finance
Finn Thomson, Syracuse, A, Sr., CommRhetStudies
Charles Balsamo, Virginia, A/M, Sr., Economics
Chase Band, Virginia, A/M, Jr., Psychology
Ben Boyer, Virginia, D, Fr., College of Arts & Sciences
Ryan Colsey, Virginia, A/M, Sr., Cognitive Science
Owen Crann, Virginia, M, Fr., College of Arts & Sciences
Ryan Duenkel, Virginia, A/M, So., College of Arts & Sciences
Andrew Greenspan, Virginia, FO, Jr., College of Arts & Sciences
Luke Hublitz, Virginia, D, So., Commerce
Michael Meredith, Virginia, D, So., Foreign Affairs
Griff Meyer, Virginia, FO, Fr., Global Commerce
McCabe Millon, Virginia, A, Jr., Leadership and Public Policy
Brendan Millon, Virginia, A, Fr., College of Arts & Sciences
Tim Myers, Virginia, A/M, Sr., History
Eli Petty, Virginia, D, Jr., Commerce
John Schroter, Virginia, D, Sr., Computer Science
Tommy Snyder, Virginia, D, So., Economics
Truitt Sunderland, Virginia, A/M, Sr., Media Studies
Joey Terenzi, Virginia, M, Sr., Foreign Affairs
Lindan Verville, Virginia, M, Fr., College of Arts & Sciences
Bold denotes 2026 ACC Men's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year