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Somerset, NJ -- In a season where Robert Morris senior midfielder
Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School) set up his teammates for scores more than any other player in Northeast Conference, ironically it was Gibson who netted the biggest individual score of all, winning the 2019 NEC Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year award.
Gibson, the Colonials’ all-time assist leader, paced the league this season with 32 helpers to go with 25 goals. The Maple, Ontario native became the third Colonial to take home NEC Player of the Year honors, behind Trevor Moore in 2010 and 2011 and Kiel Matisz in 2013. The three-time first team all-conference selection ranks 16th in the country with 2.29 assists per contest, and will enter the NEC Tournament just four assists shy from matching the NEC’s single season assist record.
For the second straight season, a Pioneer takes home the top offensive individual honor. Sacred Heart senior
Joe Saggese (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East/Drexel) was named NEC Offensive Player of the Year after he tied for the league lead, and ranked 12th in the nation with 42 goals heading into the postseason. Saggese’s senior season has rewritten the record books, as the Saint James, NY native has averaged 5.0 points per game, good for ninth best in the country, while tying Bryant’s Tucker James’ 2017 single-season NEC record with 70 points on the year. Saggese also became the first player in Pioneer program history to tally 200 career points. He is one of, a league-leading four Pioneers to land on the all-conference first team, along with sophomore
Logan Liljeberg (Wrentham, MA/LaSalle Academy), the 2018 NEC Offensive Player of the Year
Max Tuttle (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View) and senior defender
Joseph Cipoletti (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West).
Mount St. Mary’s goaltender
Dylan Furnback (Jackson, NJ/Jackson) followed T.C. DiBartolo, the netminder of Mount’s 2011 title team, as the second NEC Defensive Player of the Year in Mount program history. Furnback enjoyed a stellar sophomore season in which he led the NEC with an 8.83 goals against average and a .604 save percentage in conference play. Furnback produced 10 double-digit save outings this season, including a career-high 20-save game in the regular season finale against Saint Joseph’s to help the Mount clinch their first regular season championship since 2011. Furnback joined sophomore defender
Bryan McIntosh (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks East) and senior midfielder
Jack Mangan (Bayville, NY/Chaminade) as the three Mountaineers on this year’s NEC all-conference first team.
Zach Cole (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape), a freshman faceoff specialist, became the second NEC Rookie of the Year in Saint Joseph’s program history, after winning nearly 63% of his faceoffs to lead the NEC. Cole also collected 102 ground balls, becoming just the second Hawk - and the first freshman - in program history to amass over 100 ground balls in a single season. Cole ranks 12th in the nation in faceoff win percentage and is one of two freshmen this season to land on the all-conference first team, along with Hobart defenseman
Michael Christiansen (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury). Chris Blewitt won this award for the Hawks back in 2015.
After leading the Mountaineers to their most wins in a single season since 2011, their first regular season NEC championship since 2011 and their most conference wins in program history,
Tom Gravante was selected as NEC Coach of the Year for a third time. Selected fifth in the pre-season poll, the Mount defied expectations this season in clinching their first postseason appearance since 2015 with a 5-1 league mark. Under Gravante, the Mount possessed the stingiest defense in the league in 2019, allowing a league-low 10.17 goals against with a .543 team save percentage in the regular season.
In addition to the names of the five major awards winners, the league unveiled two all-conference teams and an all-rookie squad. All honorees were determined by a vote of the conference’s head coaches.
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
Hobart placed a league-high eight student-athletes on the All-NEC and All-Rookie Teams, followed by regular season champion Mount St. Mary’s who placed seven. Bryant earned six all-conference selections, with Robert Morris and Sacred Heart each landing five, followed by Saint Joseph’s with three.
This season, for the first time, all-conference nods were given for the defensive midfielder position, with Hobart senior
Stanny Gilbertson (Palos Verdes Estates, CA/Palos Verdes) earning first team honors and Robert Morris senior
Daniel Smith (Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont Secondary) landing on the second team.
After landing a spot on the All-Rookie team last year as freshman, Sacred Heart sophomore midfielder
Logan Liljeberg (Wrentham, MA/LaSalle Academy) and Mount St. Mary’s sophomore defender
Bryan McIntosh (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks East) both jumped up to the first team all-conference in 2019. Liljeberg recorded 20 goals and 20 assists, a 10-point improvement from his freshman year, while McIntosh caused 32 turnovers and picked up 48 ground balls this season.
Bryant’s
Marc O’Rourke (Hingham, MA/Hingham), Sacred Heart’s
Joe Saggese (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East/Drexel) and
Max Tuttle (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View), and NEC Player of the Year
Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School) from Robert Morris all repeated on the first-team all-conference list, with Gibson and Tuttle earning first-team all-conference honors for a third straight campaign. Tuttle, the Pioneers’ all-time goals leader with 131 career scores, ranks fourth in the NEC with 36 goals this season.
Robert Morris junior
Ryan Smith (Burlington, Ontario/Nelson), Bryant junior
Tyler Weingarten (Allendale, NJ/Bergen Catholic), Hobart senior
Matthew Pedicine (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson), and Saint Joseph’s goaltender
Mike Alder (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas) were voted to the All-NEC second-team for the second consecutive year, while RMU senior
Jack Toomb (Cincinnati, OH/Archbishop Moeller) was honored for a third straight season.
For the second straight year, three members of the All-Rookie team also were selected to the All-NEC first or second team. Hobart’s
Michael Christiansen (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury) and Saint Joseph’s
Zach Cole (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) were named to the first team, while
Hobart’s Derrek Madonna (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) proved to be a ray of light for the Statesmen all season long, netting 21 goals to secure a spot on the second team.
Wagner earned its first All-Rookie selection since 2017, with
Stephen Dwyer (Somerville, NJ/Immaculata) making the list. Dwyer led the Seahawks with 24 points this season.
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 38th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#26), and Hartford/New Haven (#30). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. Merrimack will join the NEC as a full-time member in July, 2019. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.
2019 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Award Winners
NEC Player of the Year
Tyson Gibson Robert Morris M Sr. Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School
Offensive Player of the Year
Joe Saggese Sacred Heart A R-Sr. Saint James, NY / Smithtown East (Drexel)
Defensive Player of the Year
Dylan Furnback Mount St. Mary’s GK So. Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial
Rookie of the Year
Zach Cole Saint Joseph’s FOS Fr. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape
Coach of the Year
Tom Gravante Mount St. Mary’s
2019 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse First Team All-Conference
Name School Pos Yr Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Eric Holden Hobart A Jr. Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury
Marc O’Rourke Bryant A So. Hingham, MA / Hingham
Joe Saggese Sacred Heart A R-Sr. Saint James, NY / Smithtown East (Drexel)
Tyson Gibson Robert Morris M Sr. Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School
Logan Liljeberg Sacred Heart M So. Wrentham, MA/LaSalle Academy (RI)
Jack Mangan Mount St. Mary’s M Sr. Bayville, NY/Chaminade
Max Tuttle Sacred Heart M Sr. Castle Rock, CO/Castle View
Michael Christiansen Hobart D Fr. Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury
Joseph Cipoletti Sacred Heart D Sr. Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West
Bryan McIntosh Mount St. Mary’s D So. Jamison, PA/Central Bucks East
Zach Coffey Bryant LSM Jr. West Newbury, MA/The Governor’s Academy
Zach Cole Saint Joseph’s FOS Fr. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape
Stanton Gilbertson Hobart DM Sr. Palos Verdes Estates, CA/Palos Verdes
Dylan Furnback Mount St. Mary’s GK So Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial
2019 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Second Team All-Conference
Name School Pos Yr Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Chris Aslanian Hobart A Sr. Westfield, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton
Chris DiPretoro Mount St. Mary’s A Sr. Owings, MD/Calverton
Ryan Smith Robert Morris A Jr. Burlington, Ontario/Nelson
Luke Frankeny Mount St. Mary’s M So. Wilmington, NC/John T. Hoggard
Derrek Madonna Hobart M Fr. Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa
Justin Scott Hobart M Jr. Mississauga, Ontario/Trinity-Pawling School
Trevor Weingarten Bryant M Jr. Allendale, NJ/Bergen Catholic
Josh Davies Mount St. Mary’s D Jr. Richmond, VA/James River
Jack Horan Bryant D R-Jr. San Rafael, CA / Marin Catholic
Austin Pavone Sacred Heart D Jr. Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield
Jack Toomb Robert Morris LSM Sr. Cincinnati, OH/Archbishop Moeller
Matthew Pedicine Hobart FOS Sr. Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson
Daniel Smith Robert Morris DM Sr. Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont Secondary
Mike Adler Saint Joseph’s GK So. Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas
2019 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse All-Rookie Team
Name School Pos Yr Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Mason Balch Bryant A Fr. Westfield, MA/Williston Northampton School
Luke Caracciolo Bryant GK Fr. Centreville, VA/Paul VI
Michael Christiansen Hobart D Fr. Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury
Zach Cole Saint Joseph’s FOS Fr. Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape
Ryan Doran Saint Joseph’s A Fr. Melville, NY/Half Hollow Hills East
Stephen Dwyer Wagner M Fr. Somerville, NJ/Immaculata
Jason Knox Hobart A Fr. Huntsville, Ontario/St. Andrew’s College
Derrek Madonna Hobart M Fr. Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa
Jared McMahon Mount St. Mary’s A Fr. Bloomsbury, NJ/North Hunterdon
Brandon Sulhoff Robert Morris A Fr. Owings, MD/Northern