New York, NY (June 30) – The National Lacrosse League announced today that New York Riptide forward Tyson Gibson has been named the league’s Rookie of the Year.
Selected first overall in the 2019 NLL Draft, Gibson finished his shortened rookie season with 43 points on 16 goals and 27 assists in 12 games. His point and assist totals led the Riptide in their inaugural season. Among all NLL rookies, Gibson’s 27 assists tied for tops in the league while his 43 points were second and his 16 goals tied for the second-most.
Gibson scored the first goal in Riptide history, unassisted, two minutes and 58 seconds into the second quarter of play at Halifax on December 8, 2019. He recorded a season and career high seven points on two goals and five assists in Rochester on February 29thand had two hat tricks on the season. Both of his hat tricks came at home, the first on January 4 against Philadelphia and the second on January 25 versus San Diego. Gibson also scooped up 51 loose balls on the season.
Prior to being selected first overall, Gibson was the Northeast Conference Player of the Year as a senior at Robert Morris. He guided the Colonials to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in his last two seasons following back-to-back NEC Tournament championships in those same years. He was a USILA All-American as a senior and was the first player in Robert Morris history to earn three All-NEC honors during his career. He spent the last two summers as a member of the Victoria Shamrocks in the Western Lacrosse Association, earning a spot in the Mann Cup Final in 2019.
In addition to being named NLL Rookie of the Year, Gibson also earned a spot on the NLL All-Rookie Team. He was joined in being honored by the league by Riptide captain Dan MacRae, who earned a spot on the NLL All-League Second Team. MacRae had six points on two goals and four assists in 13 games for New York on the season while also scooping up 64 loose balls and causing 15 turnovers. He scored arguably the biggest goal in franchise history on January 18 when he found the back of the net two minutes and 10 seconds into overtime to give the Riptide the first win in franchise history. A 10-year NLL veteran, this is MacRae’s first league honor.