When the best boys lacrosse players in Livingston County history are discussed, Howell goalie Nolan Hudnut needs to be part of that conversation.
Hudnut has become only the third boy from the county to be named first-team all-state three times by the Michigan High School Lacrosse Coaches Association.
The other two are widely considered to be the top two players in county history, Hartland’s Reece Potter (2017-19) and Bo Lockwood (2019, 2021, 2022).
Hudnut stopped 74.9% of the shots he faced this season, making 253 saves on 338 shots. He allowed four goals or less in six games for a team that finished 8-11.
He made 818 career saves. Hudnut will continue his career at Bellarmine University, an NCAA Division I program in Louisville, Ky.
Hartland, which was the state Division 1 runner-up, put three players on the first team and Brighton, a regional champion, had one first-teamer.
Hartland senior Drew Lockwood made the first team for the second time after receiving second-team honors as a sophomore.
Lockwood has been Hartland’s leading scorer each of the past two seasons. He had 66 goals and 64 assists for 130 points this year, finishing his four-year career with 228 goals and 161 assists. Lockwood also led Hartland with 35 caused turnovers this season.
“He’s meant everything to our program,” Hartland coach Nick Levanti said. “He brings a lot of toughness, a lot of grit, things we pride ourselves on. He embodies our culture in so many ways. He works tirelessly. He’s always prepared, always on time, always ready to go.”
Senior attackman Jacob Ross of Hartland is a first-team selection after being named to the third team last year.
Ross was the Eagles’ third-leading scorer with 68 goals and 24 assists for 92 points. He had 112 goals and 73 assists for 185 points the past two seasons after playing a defensive role on Hartland’s state championship team as a sophomore.
Ross and Lockwood will continue playing together at Northwood University.
“I thought he did a really nice job adapting wherever we needed him in order to help the team and impact our entire roster,” Levanti said. “We had him between attack and midfield. Toward the end of the year, he was mostly attack. We shifted around a couple things just to create a little more flexibility for us based on our depth. He stepped into whatever role we needed.”
Senior Gavin Spewock made the first team on defense in his second season at Hartland after playing at IMG Academy in Florida.
Spewock picked up 44 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers. He scored one goal. As a junior, he collected 40 ground balls and caused 16 turnovers.
“He’s a big, strong, tough athlete,” Levanti said. “He goes 100 miles per hour, no matter what he’s doing. He’s a very focused young man, very good at getting mentally dialed in on what his job is to help the team. He always went out and wanted to own his matchup. He’s always a great communicator and a high I.Q. player who helped us on the defensive end of the field.”
Brighton senior Nick Morfe made the first team as a faceoff specialist.
Morfe won 139 out of 204 faceoffs for a 68.1% success rate. He had seven goals and five assists.
“He’s one of those kids who locked in from a young age and said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna be a deciding factor in games and I’m going to win this faceoff,’” Brighton coach Jim Carl said. “Nick’s been a joy to coach. He’s self-motivated.”
Making second-team all-state were senior attackman Jake Lewis and junior long-stick midfielder Max Kotsilidis of Hartland.
Junior defender Sam Rochowiak and senior short-stick defensive midfielder Kevin Maida of Brighton made the third team, along with Hartland senior attackman Dylan Ayotte.
Junior attackman Lukas Aurandt, senior midfielder Joey Libler and junior defender Nate Stark of Brighton received honorable mention. Howell had two honorable mention selections in junior attackman Caleb Edwards and senior midfielder Sam Edwards.
Lockwood and Kotsilidis made the All-America team.
Receiving academic all-state were Brighton’s Owen Blush, Jackson Hojnicki, Drew Jesme and Luke Mazaitis, and Hartland’s David Bulloch, Kotsilidis, Lewis and Braden Streight.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
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