WASHINGTON — Richmond and Massachusetts swept the Atlantic 10 Conference superlative awards for the 2026 regular season. The Spiders’ Aidan O’Neil, Hunter Smith, Joe Sheridan, Vincent Gaylord and Dan Chemotti and UMass’ Owen Salanger all won major awards, which were announced Wednesday ahead of the Betterment A-10 Men’s Lacrosse Championship, which begins Thursday at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Va.
 
O’Neil repeated as A-10 Offensive Player of the Year and Hunter claimed back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year. Sheridan was tagged as Midfielder of the Year and Salanger was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Gaylord is the A-10 Rookie of the Year and Chemotti won his second consecutive A-10 Coach of the Year award.
 
The Atlantic 10 announced its six major awards in addition to the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams. The six major awards and All-Conference and All-Rookie teams were voted on by the six A-10 head men’s lacrosse coaches. The All-Academic team was chosen by the schools' media relations directors.  
 
O’Neil was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year while his senior teammate Max Merklinger was named Midfielder of the Year. Richmond junior Hunter Smith and Saint Joseph’s senior Levi Verch split Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Verch’s freshman teammate Ben Dutton earned Rookie of the Year. The Spiders’ head coach Dan Chemotti, who led Richmond to a No. 10 USILA ranking and four wins against ranked opponents, was tabbed as the Coach of the Year.
 
O’Neil, a senior from Centerville, Mass., led Atlantic 10 and is second nationally in points per game with 5.23. He also was third nationally with 2.92 assists per game and was tied for third in the A-10 in goals per game with  (25) for the Spiders.
 
A senior defender from Rochester, N.Y., Smith was fifth in the A-10 in caused turnovers per game with 1.92 and 25 total. Smith supported a defense that was ranked fifth nationally in caused turnovers per game (10.77) and fourth in scoring defense per game (8.31). Both stats lead the league, and combined, O’Neil and Smith helped Richmond have the best scoring margin in the country, a gap of 8.08 goals per game.
 
Sheridan is a midfielder from Westchester, Pa., who scored 25 goals and had 10 assists for 35 points, the fourth-most for the Spiders. He had nine ground balls and four caused turnovers this year.
 
A sophomore form Liverpool, N.Y., Salanger ranked third in the NCAA and led the A-10 with 13.79 saves per game, posting a save percentage of .566, the seventh best in the NCAA and tops in conference. He ranked second in the A-10 in goals against average with 10.72.
 
Gaylord, a freshman face-off specialist from East Greenbush, N.Y., was second in the Atlantic 10 and top 20 nationally with a .580 winning percentage (winning 94 of 130 face offs)and 6.58 ground balls per game.
 
In Chemotti’s 12th season as Richmond’s bench boss, he guided the Spiders to a 6-0 record in conference play and the A-10 regular season title. The Spiders concluded the regular season with a 12-1 overall record and collected three wins over ranked opponents including No. 13 Virginia, No. 13 Georgetown, and No. 5 Cornell. Richmond is currently ranked No. 3 in both major polls, with the only blemish on their record coming at the hands of No. 1 Notre Dame.. Under Chemotti, the Spiders posted their 12^th winning season. A native of Syracuse, N. Y., he played for Duke and at the professional level.
 
There were 13 players named to the All-Conference First and Second Teams, and 12 players each on the All-Rookie Team and All-Academic teams. Richmond led the way with nine All-Conference selections, and three players named to the All-Academic Team. SJU paced the way with three All-Rookie honorees.
 
The 2026 Atlantic 10 Men’s Lacrosse Championship is set with two semifinal matches on Thursday, April 30. No. 1 Richmond and No. 4 Massachusetts will meet in the first match at 4:00 pm. No. 2 High Point will face No. 3 Saint Joseph’s at 7:00 pm in the second semifinal. The championship match is slated for Saturday, May 2, at noon. All three games will be aired on ESPN+. Tickets are available on Atlantic10.comm or at the Richmond box office. 2026 Atlantic 10 Men’s Lacrosse Awards