JWU's Stone, Emmanuel's Baglivi Collect Major GNAC Men's Lacrosse Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GNAC announces 2017
All-Conference squads

WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales University junior attacker Max Stone has been selected as the 2017 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.

Stone, a First Team selection, was one of three from JWU named to the top squad, while GNAC champion Lasell College led the way with four First Team nods.

Stone led the GNAC with 56 goals and had 15 assists for 71 points, which was second in the conference behind only classmate Eric Russo's 77 points on 35 goals and 42 assists. Russo too was a First Team selection.

Emmanuel College senior Chris Baglivi was voted the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year as the 6-4 defender had 68 groundballs and a GNAC-leading 45 caused turnovers for the Saints, who allowed just 9.63 goals per game. Joining Baglivi on the First Team for Emmanuel were senior Brendan Gallagher and junior Michael Sousa.

NCAA Tournament bound Lasell swept the remaining major awards, as senior Jorge Salazar was named the GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year, freshman defender Daniel Gorman was selected as the GNAC Rookie of the Year, and second-year head coach Bill Mason was lauded as the GNAC Coach of the Year.

The First Team choice Salazar posted an 8.95 goals-against average while posting a .593 save percentage overall and .622 in-conference. Gorman had 34 groundballs and 28 caused turnovers in his rookie campaign, while Mason guided the Lasers to a perfect 8-0 mark in GNAC play before capturing the GNAC Tournament title.

From Lasell, sophomore Ryan Madden, freshman Darien Clay and senior Connor Johnson joined Salazar on the All-Conference First Team. The Lasers will be in action later today against Misericordia in an NCAA Tournament first-round contest. 

For the complete list of All-Conference selections and All-Sportsmanship Team picks, please see below.

First Team
A – Eric Russo, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., West Grove, Pa.)
A – Max Stone, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., Burlington, Conn.)
A – Josh Jenkins, Norwich (Jr., Centennial, Colo.)
M – Ben Farrell, Johnson & Wales (RI) (So., Downingtown, Pa.)
M – Ryan Madden, Lasell (So., Hingham, Mass.)
M – Chad Coehlo, Mount Ida (Sr., Salem, Mass.)
LSM – Darien Clay, Lasell (Fr., Newtown, Mass.)
SSM – Connor Johnson, Lasell (Sr., Hampstead, N.H.)
F/O – Michael Sousa, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Jr., Cranston, R.I.)
D – Chris Baglivi, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Sr., Mattituck, N.Y.)
D – Brendan Gallagher, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Sr., Solon, Ohio)
D – Zach Adler, Norwich (Jr., Stratham, N.H.)
GK – Jorge Salazar, Lasell (Sr., Waltham, Mass.)

Second Team
A – Tony Cibelli, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Sr., Westboro, Mass.)
A – Josh Gallant, Lasell (Sr., Hampstead, N.H.)
A – Austin Tomasetti, Lasell (Jr., Elmsford, N.Y.)
M – Justin Bennet, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Fairfield, Conn.)
M – Alex McCormack-Kuhma, Lasell (Jr., Wells, Maine)
M – Wyatt Sullivan, Mount Ida (Sr., Arlington, Mass.)
LSM – Owen Macca, Johnson & Wales (RI) (So., West Hartford, Conn.)
SSM – Matt Hoffman, Mount Ida (Sr., Brewster, N.Y.)
F/O – Hunter Guzzo, Johnson & Wales (RI) (So., Wantage, N.J.)
D – Daniel Gorman, Lasell (Fr., Wilbraham, Mass.)
D – David Sheehan, Lasell (So., Tewksbury, Mass.)
D – Alex Veloukas, Mount Ida (Sr., Salem, Mass.)
GK – Cam Hayward, Mount Ida (Jr., Derry, N.H.)

Third Team
A – Charlie Moran, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Jr., Maitland, Fla.)
A – Jon Berry, Mount Ida (Sr., Chichester, N.H.)
A – Liam Ryan, Rivier (Jr., Dorchester, Mass.)
M – Erik Lindaas, Johnson & Wales (RI) (So., Milford, Pa.)
M – Anthony Saitta, Lasell (Sr., Derry, N.H.)
M – Michael Cashman, Norwich (Jr., East Kingstown, N.H.)
LSM – Matt Whear, Norwich (Jr., Duxbury, Mass.)
SSM – Sean Reilly, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Sr., Deer Park, N.Y.)
F/O – Alex Zito, Mount Ida (Jr., Andover, Conn.)
D – Brad Medlin, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Sr., Westford, Mass.)
D – James Connors, Norwich (Sr., Marshfield, Mass.)
D – Liam Skinner, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Jr., Irving, Texas)
GK – Paul Schwarz, Anna Maria (So., Staten Island, N.Y.)

Offensive Player of the Year – Max Stone, Johnson & Wales (RI)
Defensive Player of the Year – Chris Baglivi, Emmanuel (Mass.)
Goalkeeper of the Year – Jorge Salazar, Lasell
Rookie of the Year – Daniel Gorman, Lasell
Coach of the Year – Bill Mason, Lasell
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Anna Maria College

All-Sportsmanship Team
Justin Bennet, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Fairfield, Conn.)
Daniel Rinkus, Anna Maria (Jr., Harwinton, Conn.)
Adam Crabtree, Emmanuel (So., Warwick, R.I.)
Nick Guerra, Johnson & Wales (So., Stratford, Conn.)
Pete Dolan, Lasell (Sr., Pearl River, N.Y.)
Cole Davis, Mount Ida (Sr., Chester, N.H.)
Connor McMahon, Norwich (Sr., Norwich, Conn.)
Isaiah Arteaga, Rivier (West Hartford, Conn.)
Joe O'Reilly, Saint Joseph's (ME) (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.)

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –