Gaffney named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year
4/25/2018 1:16:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Complete Patriot League Release
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After being named first team All-Patriot League earlier in the week, Lehigh men's lacrosse sophomore Conor Gaffney garnered a major award on Wednesday, being named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gaffney is Lehigh's first Scholar-Athlete of the Year since Jonathan Stumpf in 2011 and fourth in program history. He's just the second Scholar-Athlete of the Year from Lehigh to also be named first team All-League in the same season (the other being Michael Rabinovitz in 2002).
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Through three semesters at Lehigh, Gaffney owns a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Mechanical Engineering major, being named to the Dean's List every semester, garnering the Faculty Athletics Council Award as well and being named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
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Gaffney currently stands fifth among active players in career faceoff percentage (60.5). The league's leader in faceoff percentage this season (60.1 percent, 188-of-333), Gaffney has impressed against some of the league's top faceoff specialists, including winning 13-of-21 against Navy's Joe Varello (who has won 59.6 percent on the year), 11-of-20 then 10-of-18 vs. Colgate's Colin Orr (who has won 59.6 percent) and 12-of-20 against Army's John Ragno (who has won 55.5 percent). Gaffney won 17-of-20 at Lafayette, 16-of-23 against Cornell and most recently, 14-of-20 at Bucknell. He played a crucial role in Lehigh's 13-8 win at No. 18/19 Hofstra on Mar. 20, winning 15-of-24 against Kyle Gallagher, who entered the day at 61.8 percent on the season.
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Gaffney been named Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week four times this season, including a stretch of three straight weeks in March. He's won 10 weekly awards over the first two years of his career.
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Following a convincing 11-6 win over Colgate in Tuesday's Patriot League Quarterfinals, the Mountain Hawks will square off against No. 11/13 Navy on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the second Patriot League Semifinal of the day. The first semifinal is set for 4:30 p.m. between No. 1 Loyola and No. 6 Boston University. Both games will be played at Loyola's Ridley Athletic Complex.
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Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Scholar-Athlete of the Year:Â Conor Gaffney, Lehigh, So., FO
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Academic All-Patriot League Team
Griffin Schultz, Army West Point, Jr., D
Joe McSorley, Boston University, So., GK
Jack Wilson, Boston University, Sr., A
Reed Malas, Bucknell, Jr., M
Will Sands, Bucknell, Sr., A
Christian Klipstein, Bucknell, Jr., GK
Will Blumenberg, Colgate, Jr., M
Conor Walters, Lafayette, Jr., A
Conor Gaffney, Lehigh, So., FO
Foster Huggins, Loyola Maryland, Sr., D
Jared Mintzlaff, Loyola Maryland, Sr., M
Brian Begley, Loyola Maryland, Sr., SSDM
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After being named first team All-Patriot League earlier in the week, Lehigh men's lacrosse sophomore Conor Gaffney garnered a major award on Wednesday, being named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gaffney is Lehigh's first Scholar-Athlete of the Year since Jonathan Stumpf in 2011 and fourth in program history. He's just the second Scholar-Athlete of the Year from Lehigh to also be named first team All-League in the same season (the other being Michael Rabinovitz in 2002).
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Through three semesters at Lehigh, Gaffney owns a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Mechanical Engineering major, being named to the Dean's List every semester, garnering the Faculty Athletics Council Award as well and being named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
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Gaffney currently stands fifth among active players in career faceoff percentage (60.5). The league's leader in faceoff percentage this season (60.1 percent, 188-of-333), Gaffney has impressed against some of the league's top faceoff specialists, including winning 13-of-21 against Navy's Joe Varello (who has won 59.6 percent on the year), 11-of-20 then 10-of-18 vs. Colgate's Colin Orr (who has won 59.6 percent) and 12-of-20 against Army's John Ragno (who has won 55.5 percent). Gaffney won 17-of-20 at Lafayette, 16-of-23 against Cornell and most recently, 14-of-20 at Bucknell. He played a crucial role in Lehigh's 13-8 win at No. 18/19 Hofstra on Mar. 20, winning 15-of-24 against Kyle Gallagher, who entered the day at 61.8 percent on the season.
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Gaffney been named Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Week four times this season, including a stretch of three straight weeks in March. He's won 10 weekly awards over the first two years of his career.
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Following a convincing 11-6 win over Colgate in Tuesday's Patriot League Quarterfinals, the Mountain Hawks will square off against No. 11/13 Navy on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in the second Patriot League Semifinal of the day. The first semifinal is set for 4:30 p.m. between No. 1 Loyola and No. 6 Boston University. Both games will be played at Loyola's Ridley Athletic Complex.
Â
Like Lehigh men's lacrosse on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Â
Scholar-Athlete of the Year:Â Conor Gaffney, Lehigh, So., FO
Â
Academic All-Patriot League Team
Griffin Schultz, Army West Point, Jr., D
Joe McSorley, Boston University, So., GK
Jack Wilson, Boston University, Sr., A
Reed Malas, Bucknell, Jr., M
Will Sands, Bucknell, Sr., A
Christian Klipstein, Bucknell, Jr., GK
Will Blumenberg, Colgate, Jr., M
Conor Walters, Lafayette, Jr., A
Conor Gaffney, Lehigh, So., FO
Foster Huggins, Loyola Maryland, Sr., D
Jared Mintzlaff, Loyola Maryland, Sr., M
Brian Begley, Loyola Maryland, Sr., SSDM
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Players Mentioned
M/FO
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