By ANDREW COEN
“It’s any coach’s honor to have one of their players get honored as the greatest player in the country,” Passuello said.
Seibald was awarded the Tewaaraton on May 28, which put a wrap on a storied NCAA career in which the 2005 Hewlett graduate registered 139 points while earning All-American honors four times. His senior campaign included registering 38 points while leading Cornell to the national title game, where it lost a 10-9 overtime heartbreaker to Syracuse.
The Tewaaraton winner gives much of the credit to his successful college career to Passuello, who with Seibald leading the charge guided Hewlett to the 2005 Nassau Class B championship. “If it were not for Coach Paz, I believe I am not the player or the person I am today,” Seibald said. “He was the first to tell me when I needed to improve on something.”
The Tewaaraton caps a laundry list of awards Seibald earned during his Cornell career. One of these honors was winning the 2009 Lowe’s Senior Class Award for his combination of athletic and academic success as well as community service. It was this balance of on-field and off-field success that also earned Seibald induction into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame last year.
The Tewaaraton honor came three days after Cornell fell in the national championship game and was apart of a hectic week for the Hewlett alum. Seibald was drafted by the Denver Outlaws as the second-overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) draft on May 27. He then flew to Denver to make his make his MLL debut for the Outlaws on May 30 and scored a two-point goal in a 20-16 win over the Washington Bayhawks.
”It was a very emotionally and physically draining week,” Seibald said.
Seibald’s hectic schedule the final week of May was a precursor for what will be a very busy next couple months for the native Five Towner. In addition to playing midfield for the Outlaws, Seibald will also be trying out for the United States lacrosse team in hopes of competing in the World Championships next summer. In addition he will be working at lacrosse camps in the coming months and plans to start his own by the end of the summer.
The 6-foot-1, 200 pound Seibald is also pondering whether to pursue a dream of playing in the National Football League despite having not been on the gridiron since high school. However, at the moment he is focused on lacrosse and trying to excel at the professional level after reaching the top mountain in college.
“There is really no reason why he can’t dominate at the next level,” Passuello said. “His ability has no limits.”
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