BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Navy junior faceoff specialist
Zach Hayashi (North Potomac, Md.) has been selected as the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year it was announced by the league office on Thursday. Hayashi is the third different Navy men's lacrosse player to earn honor since the Midshipmen joined the league in 2004 and he's the first since Colin Finnegan garnered recognition in 2007.
Majoring in cyber operations, Hayashi owns a 3.90 grade-point average. He has been named to both the Superintendent's and Commandant's Lists four times and is ranked among the top eight percent of his class in academic order of merit and the top two percent in overall order of merit. Additionally, he stands sixth in military order of merit among his class of nearly 1,100.
Hayashi has flourished at Navy where he is already ranked #2 on Navy's all-time faceoff wins list with 384. He set the program record for most faceoff wins by a freshman with 214 in 2024. His sophomore season was cut short due to a knee injury, but he bounced back last summer as a contributing member of the USA Lacrosse squad that won the silver medal at the 2025 World Lacrosse Men's U20 Championship. He is just one of two Navy players who have be selected to the U.S. Men's U20 Team since it was established in 1988.
This season, Hayashi and teammate
Colin Shadowens (Sr / Severna Park, N.Y.) split the faceoff duties for the Mids with Hayashi finishing the year 107 for 195 (54.9), while Shadowens was 109 for 196 (55.6). Hayashi also paced the team in ground balls with 60 and will head into his senior campaign ranked #5 in career ground balls with 194.
2026 Men's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Zach Hayashi, Navy, Jr., FO
2026 Men's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Team
Gunnar Fellows, Army, Sr., A
Madden Murphy, Boston U., So., FO
Timothy Shannehan, Boston U., So., A
Owen Kovacs, Bucknell, Sr., A
Hunter Drouin, Colgate, Sr., A
Casey Quinson, Colgate, So., A
JR Long, Holy Cross, Sr., GK
Nick Faccone, Lafayette, Jr., M/FO
Kasey Heath, Lehigh, Jr., GK
Luke Murphy, Loyola, Sr., M
Max Watkinson, Loyola, Sr., GK
Zach Hayashi, Navy, Jr., FO
### Go Navy ###
