NEW YORK – University of Denver men’s lacrosse senior Jeremy Noble (Orangeville, Ontario) and junior Ryan LaPlante (Fort Collins, Colo.) we named BIG EAST Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively, by the league office. The awards were voted on by the league’s head coaches. In total, seven Pioneers were honored with postseason awards.
St. John’s Kieran McArdle and Villanova’s John LoCascio repeated as the BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Marquette’s Joe Amplo rounded out the honors with the Coach of the Year trophy.
Noble was the unanimous selection by the head coaches for Midfielder of the Year. The versatile Denver senior is second in the BIG EAST with 27 assists and a 1.93 per-game average. Noble has also been a defensive stalwart for the Pioneers with a team-best 16 caused turnovers to go with 38 ground balls, good for second on the squad.
LaPlante has been head coach Bill Tierney’s leadoff goaltender in 12 of 14 games this season in the unique goalkeeper platoon employed by the Pioneers. He boasts an 8.90 goals-against average while stopping nearly 58 percent of shots sent his way en route to building an 8-0 record.
In all, Denver led with seven All-BIG EAST selections, including a conference-best six on the first team. Noble and LaPlante were named to the first team alongside junior Wesley Berg (Coquitlam, B.C.) (33 goals, 15 assists, 5 EMO goals) at attack, junior Erik Adamson (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) (33 G, 7 A, 16 ground balls) at midfield, freshman Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J.) (13 games played, 18 GB) on defense and senior goalkeeper Jamie Faus (Lakeville, Conn.) (14 GP, 4-2, 8.20 goals-against average, .540 save percentage) at the coaches’ at-large selection. Sophomore attackman Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colo.) (34 G, 17 A) was the Pioneers’ sole second-team representative.
Villanova followed with a pair of first-team All-BIG EAST honorees and five total. LoCascio earned first-team recognition at long pole while classmate Chris Conroy (14 GP, 19 GB) made the top squad on defense. Fellow senior Chris Piccirilli (14 GP, 5 G, 27 GB) was a second-team choice on defense along with sophomore midfielder Jack Curran (16 G, 14 A, 16 GB) and freshman goalkeeper Dan Willis (14 GP, 5-8, 9.93 GAA, .489)
Marquette, Rutgers and St. John’s tied with four all-league selections each. Redshirt senior Tyler Melnyk (attack; 36 G, 14 A, 84 shots) and redshirt sophomore B.J. Grill (defense; 15 GP, 34 GB) picked up first-team citations, and redshirt sophomores Kyle Whitlow (midfield; 22 G, 10 A) and Liam Byrnes (long stick midfielder; 2 G, 43 GB) were second-team selections from Marquette. McArdle was St. John’s only first-team representative, while the senior duo of Kevin Cernuto (attack; 30 G, 11 A, 5 EMO goals) and Ryan Fitzgerald (midfield; 22 G, 11 A, 22 GB) joined junior defender Mark DiFrangia (14 GP, 37 GB) on the second team. All four of Rutgers’ picks were second-team choices in redshirt senior Anthony Terranova (17 G, 17 A, 27 GB) at midfield, senior Nick Contino (15 GP, 2 G, 30 GB) on defense, junior Joe Nardella (13 GP, 5 G, 7 A, .650 face-off) as the specialist and sophomore Scott Bieda (18 G, 21 A) at attack.
Georgetown rounded out the team with two first-team All-BIG EAST representatives in graduate student Tyler Knarr (14 GP, 3 G, 3 A, .659 face-off) at specialist and freshman Peter Conley (24 G, 13 A, 77 shots) at midfield.
Berg, McArdle, Noble, Grill, LoCascio and Knarr were all unanimous first-team selections at their position.
The 2014 BIG EAST Tournament presented by New York Life comes to Villanova Stadium for a second straight year with two semifinal contests on Thursday and the championship game Saturday. No. 1 Denver battles fourth-seeded Rutgers in the first semi at 2:30 p.m. MT and second seed Marquette takes on No. 3 Villanova in the nightcap at 5 p.m. Eastern. Both games will stream live on BIGEAST.com for free. Saturday’s championship game will air live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 2:30 p.m. MT. The champion earns an automatic berth to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, which features an expanded field of 18 teams this season.
All-BIG EAST Team and Major Awards in Men’s Lacrosse
Attack Player of the Year – Kieran McArdle, St. John’s, Sr.
Midfielder of the Year – Jeremy Noble, Denver, Sr. (&)
Defensive Player of the Year – John LoCascio, Villanova, Sr., LSM
Goalkeeper of the Year – Ryan LaPlante, Denver, Jr.
Coach of the Year – Joe Amplo, Marquette
First Team All-BIG EAST
Wesley Berg, Denver, Jr., A ^
Tyler Melnyk, Marquette, R-Sr., A
Kieran McArdle, St. John’s, Sr., A ^
Erik Adamson, Denver, Jr., M
Jeremy Noble, Denver, Sr., M ^
Peter Conley, Georgetown, Fr., M
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, Fr., D
B.J. Grill, Marquette, R-So., D ^
Chris Conroy, Villanova, Sr., D
John LoCascio, Villanova, Sr., LSM ^
Tyler Knarr, Georgetown, Gr., FOS ^
Jamie Faus, Denver, Sr., GK (at-large selection)
Ryan LaPlante, Denver, Jr., GK
Second Team All-BIG EAST %
Jack Bobzien, Denver, So., A
Scott Bieda, Rutgers, So., A
Kevin Cernuto, St. John’s, Sr., A
Kyle Whitlow, Marquette, R-So., M
Anthony Terranova, Rutgers, R-Sr., M
Ryan Fitzgerald, St. John’s, Sr., M
Jack Curran, Villanova, So., M
Nick Contino, Rutgers, Sr., D
Mark DiFrangia, St. John’s, Jr., D
Chris Piccirilli, Villanova, Sr., D
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, R-So., LSM
Joe Nardella, Rutgers, Jr., FOS
Dan Willis, Villanova, Fr., GK
& - unanimous selection for Midfielder of the Year
^ - unanimous first-team selection
% - second team included four midfielders because of a tie in the voting
Breakdown by school
Denver – 6 first team/1 second team/7 total
Georgetown – 2/0/2
Marquette – 2/2/4
Providence – 0
Rutgers – 0/4/4
St. John’s – 1/3/4
Villanova – 2/3/5
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