Uniondale, NY (September 17, 2020) – With the first overall selection in the 2020 National Lacrosse League Draft on Thursday evening, the New York Riptide picked forward Jeff Teat from Cornell University and the Brampton Excelsiors. With the selection, Teat becomes the first player in Big Red history to be selected No. 1 overall in an NLL Draft.
“When we knew had the first overall pick all of our scouts and coaches unanimously ranked Jeff as our number one choice for all the attributes he brings with his game,” Riptide General Manager Jim Veltman said. “His calm demeanor in pressure situations and his ability to make others around him better makes him the obvious choice for our organization. We look forward to him joining our team once he completes his career at Cornell.”
Teat, who will return to Cornell this spring for a fifth year of eligibility due to COVID-19, is a three-time USILA All-American and a four-time Inside Lacrosse Media All-American while also being named a Tewaarton Trophy nominee twice. The left-handed forward has received All-Ivy accolades on three occasions, including unanimous All-Ivy selections in 2018 and 2019. Teat currently sits third in the Cornell record books with 268 points and 152 assists while also cracking the top-10 in ninth place with 116 career goals. He is one of just two players in Big Red history to post three consecutive 30 goal, 30 assist seasons and is one of just four to record 70 points in three straight campaigns.
As a freshman in 2017, he had 72 points, breaking the Cornell freshman record. During his sophomore season, Teat tallied 99 points and catapulted Cornell to an Ivy League Championship. His 99 points stands as the 24th all-time best single season point total in NCAA Division I history. For his junior season, in 2018, Teat was selected by the Cornell coaching staff to wear the team’s symbolic hardhat in honor of the late George Boiardi, which is given to a junior who epitomizes pride, respect and heart. In a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Cornell was 5-0 and Teat led all players with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists. Following that campaign, he was named the Cornell Sun’s Male Athlete of the Year. In 2018, he represented Canada at the FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship, winning a silver medal.
For all of his success in the field game, Teat has also had a storied indoor career. In 2013, he earned the Jimmy Thomson Memorial Award as the Ontario Lacrosse Association Midget A Most Valuable Player while also earning a spot on the All-Star Midget Team. The following season, he made the jump to Junior A with the Brampton Excelsiors at just 16 years old, taking home the Joey Nieuwendyk Award as the league’s Rookie of the Year as well as the Jim Clevely Memorial Award as Brampton’s Rookie of the Year after recording 89 points on 35 goals and 54 points in 19 games.
In 2015, Teat led the Excelsiors with 93 points on 35 goals and 58 assists and followed that in 2016 by leading the OJALL with 145 points on 56 goals and 89 points. His point total that year was the most in the league since John Grant Jr. recorded 160 points in 1994. For his efforts, he captured the Bobby Allan Award as the league’s leading scorer. It was the first of a string of three 110+ point seasons, all of which led the league in scoring, that Teat had to cap off his OJALL career with Brampton. In 2017 he had 136 points (45 goals, 91 assists) while picking up a trio of OJALL Awards. That year, he again captured the Bobby Allen Award as the league’s leading scorer and added the Dennis McIntosh Memorial Award as the league’s most valuable player and the Jim Veltman award as the most outstanding player to his resume. Teat wrapped up his junior career in 2018 with 112 points on 40 goals and 72 assists in 17 games and another Bobby Allan Award. In his Junior A career, he had 577 points on 213 goals and 364 assists in 98 regular season games and added 257 points on 95 goals and 162 assists in 45 career playoff games.
In 2019, Teat saw action in 18 games as a rookie for the Brampton Excelsiors in Major Series, finishing his first season with 80 points on 36 goals and 44 assists. That earned him the Bucko MacDonald Trophy as the MSL’s regular season leading scorer and the Gene Dopp Trophy as the MSL Rookie of the Year.
The Riptide will return to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the franchise’s second season in 2020-21. For more information please visit NewYorkRiptide.com or on social media at @NewYorkRiptide.