Poillon and Cassese earn major awards; eight named All-Patriot League
4/24/2012 5:58:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following a historic regular season, the Lehigh men's lacrosse team has racked in a number of Patriot League honors, as announced by the league on Tuesday. Freshman Matt Poillon was named Goalie of the Year, head coach Kevin Cassese garnered Coach of the Year, while eight were named All-League. The eight All-League honorees tied for most in school history, tying the original record set in 1995.
Poillon becomes the Mountain Hawks' first-ever Patriot League Goalie of the Year while Cassese is Lehigh's first Coach of the Year since John McCloskey in 1999. Lehigh's eight All-League honorees are by far the most in the league, ahead of Army, Bucknell and Colgate who each had five. The Mountain Hawks placed three on the First Team and five on the Second Team.
Cassese has helped lead the Mountain Hawks' to their best start in program history and best-ever record through regular season play. The team's 12 wins have already tied the school record; the squad goes for number 13 in the Patriot League Semifinals Friday night. Cassese has led Lehigh to its highest national ranking in program history, reaching as high as seventh while currently standing eighth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and ninth in the USILA Coaches Poll as of Monday.
A four-time Patriot League Goalie of the Week and two-time Rookie of the Week, Poillon has shined between the pipes. He owns a stellar 6.00 GAA and 61.7 save percentage, good for second and fourth in the nation, respectively. Poillon has seven double-digit save performances this season, allowing six goals or fewer on nine occasions.
Also on the First Team was close defenseman Ty Souders, who has helped lead the defense in front of Poillon. Souders owns 28 groundballs and a career-high 12 caused turnovers this season. The Patriot League's Defensive Player of the Week on March 5, Souders was also named a Midseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse. Coming off a career-high five-groundball performance in the regular season finale at Lafayette, Souders and the defense owns the nation's second-best scoring defense (6.07).
Senior Roman Lao-Gosney earned All-League honors for the first time in his career, cracking the First Team. Lao-Gosney has shattered his career high in goals (now 16) to go with four assists. He stands fifth on the team in scoring as a mainstay in the midfield. Lao-Gosney owns six multi-point games this season and 18 for his career. One of his highlight performances came as part of a memorable Senior Night win over Bucknell. He finished with two goals and an assist, which included a big game-tying goal in the fourth quarter.
Roman's twin brother Cameron was named a Second Team honoree for the second time in his career (also in 2010). Cameron teamed with Roman to form a dynamic 1-2 punch at the midfield, scoring 11 goals and adding eight assists through regular season play. He's been a consistent force, posting a point in 12-of-14 games thus far, including three vs. Bucknell. Cameron assisted on Dante Fantoni's game-winning goal with just 14 seconds remaining in front of a facility record 2,096 fans.
Junior David DiMaria cracked the Second Team at attack after posting 19 goals and 17 assists through regular season play. After recording 33 points as a freshman and 52 as a sophomore, DiMaria continues to be a catalyst for the Lehigh offense. He's posted three or more points on seven occasions including four points (one goal, three assists) in the win over #4 North Carolina, a hat trick against #15 Yale and a season-high seven points (four goals, three assists) vs. Holy Cross. DiMaria leads the team in goals, assists and points.
Classmate Ryan Snyder earned All-League honors for a second straight season after garnering First Team laurels last year. Snyder has won 53.5 percent of his faceoffs (114-of-213), while scooping 82 groundballs, tied for second in the Patriot League. His standout game came against R.G. Keenan of fourth-ranked 4 UNC, winning 13-of-20 with 10 groundballs against the Tar Heels. This came against an All-American who owns a stellar 61.5 percentage for this season (187-of-304). Snyder also won 12-of-17 at Penn, 11-of-16 vs. Holy Cross and 13-of-18 against Bucknell.
Mike Noone and Lukas Mikelinich round out Lehigh's All-League performers as all three of the Mountain Hawks' close defensemen were recognized. Noone is a three-time Defensive Player of the Week who has come on, especially as the season's progressed. He owns 21 groundballs and 13 caused turnovers over the last six games, to up his season total to 33 and 23 (team lead and 22nd in the nation), respectively. One monster game came against the Bison when he set career-highs in groundballs (6) and caused turnovers (4) to earn his third weekly award in a four-week span.
Meanwhile, Mikelinich owns 10 groundballs and nine caused turnovers in 12 games (eight starts). His impact goes far beyond numbers, however, as he's covered some of the top players in the league. That includes holding Offensive Player of the Year Peter Baum (Colgate) to a season-low one goal and two points. Mikelinich had a big performance at Penn, causing four turnovers; he finished with a groundball and two caused turnovers in a big win at Penn State, a team currently ranked 14th in the nation.
The #2 seed Mountain Hawks now look ahead to a Patriot League Semifinal tilt vs. third-seeded and #19 nationally-ranked Army on Friday at 8 p.m. Should they win, they'd advance to the Championship Game which is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. The entire tournament will be hosted by Colgate, with all three games aired live on CBS Sports Network.
First Team
Attack – Peter Baum, Colgate, Jr.
Attack – Billy Eisenreich, Bucknell, Sr.
Attack – Garrett Thul, Army, Jr.
Midfield – Nick Gantsoudes, Bucknell, Sr.
Midfield – Roman Lao-Gosney, Lehigh, Sr.
Midfield – Jeff Ledwick, Colgate, Sr.
Midfield – Devin Lynch, Army, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Robert Grabher, Colgate, Jr.
Defensive Midfield Specialist – Tim Henderson, Army, Sr.
Defense – Mike Huffner, Bucknell, So.
Defense – Brendan Buckley, Army, Jr.
Defense – Ty Souders, Lehigh, So.
Goalkeeper – Matt Poillon, Lehigh, Fr.
Goalkeeper – Kyle Feeney, Bucknell, Jr.
Goalkeeper – Kyle Feeney, Bucknell, Jr.
Goalkeeper – RJ Wickham, Navy, Sr.
Second Team
Attack – David DiMaria, Lehigh, Jr.
Attack – Tucker Hull, Navy, So.
Attack – Ryan Walsh, Colgate, Fr.
Midfield – David Dickson, Bucknell, Fr.
Midfield – Cameron Lao-Gosney, Lehigh, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Derek Sipperly, Army, Sr.
Face-Off Specialist – Ryan Snyder, Lehigh, Jr.
Defensive Midfield Specialist – Pat Kiernan, Navy, So.
Defense – Mike Noone, Lehigh, Jr.
Defense – Bobby Lawrence, Colgate, So.
Defense – Lukas Mikelinich, Lehigh, So.
Offensive Player of the Year – Peter Baum, Colgate, Jr., A
Defensive Player of the Year – Tim Henderson, Army, Sr., LSM
Goalkeeper of the Year – Matt Poillon, Lehigh, Fr.
Rookie of the Year – Ryan Walsh, Colgate, Fr., A
Coach of the Year – Kevin Cassese, Lehigh
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