Bath, Birch, Spano are USA Lacrosse Men's Players of the Week

This season, USA Lacrosse will celebrate the accomplishments of players across Divisions I, II and III each Tuesday with Player of the Week recognition.

Players of the Week are selected by USA Lacrosse Magazine staff and contributors based on a variety of factors, including individual performance and impact on team success.

DIVISION I

Michael Bath, Princeton

Entering the weekend, no team took care of the ball better than Rutgers. That made the performance by Bath even more impressive. The junior LSM caused a school-record six turnovers against the Scarlet Knights, and Rutgers turned the ball over 21 times in total.

A first-year starter, Bath has 10 caused turnovers and 15 ground balls in a 4-2 start for Princeton.

DIVISION II

Canyon Birch, Tampa

Birch scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals in double OT for Tampa. Every goal from Birch, who had six goals, seemed to come at the moment his team needed it most. His first goal stopped a 4-0 run from Wingate. His second goal halted a two-goal Wingate run. His third started a four-goal Tampa run that resulted in the score being tied at eight. 

His fourth was the last goal in that run. His fifth tied the score with 1:14 to go to send it to OT, and his sixth won the game in double OT. It wasn’t just pure volume, but the timeliness and the clutch play from Birch that makes him the player of the week.

DIVISION III

Tyler Spano, Washington and Lee

Gettysburg was certainly happy to see Washington and Lee leave town after the performance of Spanos in a 15-8 W&L win. The freshman faceoff man was dominant at X, winning 20 of 26 draws with 14 ground balls, but he chipped in on the offensive end, too, with two goals.

Spano has won at least 50 percent of his faceoff attempts in four of five games this season.