If he doesn't make multiple point blank saves against UVA we go home early.

This decision is worse than sending Harvard over ND to last year's tourney.

Basically the nation’s most prolific/stat-producing offensive player on a really good team.

I see it as:

Attack: QB/RB (almost always going to win it)
Middie: WR (not unprecedented - see DeVonta Smith - but need some gaudy numbers)
Goalie: Defensive player (likely need some outrageous numbers/hype. Not impossible [Te’o, Hutchinson came relatively close; Woodson won it but he wasn’t purely defense], but a lot would have to break right)
Defenseman: Offensive lineman (almost certainly never gonna happen, even if truly the best player in the sport/most deserving)

For the record, I feel like if a goalie is ever going to win one, Entenmann next year is probably the best chance. He’ll have a ton of hype/buzz heading into and lasting throughout the whole season (presuming his play stays at least at the level it was this season, if not even elevated a bit).

saying but I think it's different from any sport. The difference between a good goalie and an excellent one is that s/he will jumpstart the offense with a perfect outlet pass following a save. They see the field and start the offensive possession. Entenmann is not only outstanding in making saves but in driving good offensive possessions by making outlets to the side of the field where you want to exploit.

This is where they are different from a purely defensive player and more like a Charles Woodson or that meathead HC from Boulder. They not only shut down on D but kick start the offense with a good return.

The best coaches treat goalies not just as the last line of defense but as the first person on offense.

I agree with you though, especially that Entenmann will be the front runner next year.

I was not making a position to position comparison. A goalie’s hardly ever getting an assist in the stat sheet the way Woodson would get return/receiving yards/TDs to accumulate stats. While a goalie’s clearing ability can factor in (particularly colloquially) to the overall well-rounded judgment of his ability at the position, it’ll likely play a very, very minimal role at best in his Tewaaraton chances.

Not to mention, all goalies are responsible for clearing the ball (whether they’re good, bad or average at it). A good clearing goalie isn’t “unique” or doing “extra” compared to other goalies. Woodson was unique/doing extra because most starting defensive players do not play special teams/return kicks and even fewer get offensive snaps.

Woodson would be like if your starting goalie was also a man-up specialist and added some goals/assists that way.

...several times, so some committee sees their value.

Tillman Johnson of UVA was the most recent, in 2003. Princeton's Scott Bacigalupo before him on '94. And Larry Quinn of Hopkins twice in the '80s.
Bacigalupo was pretty incredible to watch.

...given that Tillman Johnson (I do remember him!) was in 2003, twenty years ago. Wow.

I'm going to have to dwell on Bacigalupo. It gets a bit fuzzy going back after the spectre of Scotty Rogers! ;-)