Somerset, NJ -- After another dominant showing at the X, Saint Joseph’s senior faceoff specialist Zach Cole (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) was named the NEC Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.

Saint Joseph’s head coach Taylor Wray joined Cole on the list of major award winners announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon. Wray was tabbed the NEC Coach of the Year by his peers for a record sixth time, all in the last eight years.

LIU landed two major awards as junior attacker Richie LaCalandra (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) repeated as the NEC Offensive Player of the Year and junior goalkeeper Will Mark (Danville, CA/Proctor Academy) took home his second consecutive NEC Defensive Player of the Year honor.

The NEC Rookie of the Year accolade went to Sacred Heart freshman attacker Jake Ward (Highlands Ranch, CO/Mountain Vista).

Cole has been lights out at the X for the six-time NEC regular season champion Hawks. The senior faceoff specialist and two-time All-American leads the league and ranks first in the NCAA with a .702 faceoff percentage, and has won a nation leading 250 faceoffs heading into the postseason. Cole is one of three players in NCAA DI to have a perfect game at the X, going 21-for-21 against Wagner back in March, and his 27 faceoff wins against Drexel that same month is tied for second on the NCAA single game list. The Mount Laurel, NJ native also leads the nation with 11.93 ground balls per game. A five-time NEC Player of the Week this season, Cole has been tabbed to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List. Michael Rastivo also won this award for the Hawks back in 2016.

Repeating as the NEC Offensive Player of the Year, LaCalandra kept the offense flowing for the Sharks. The junior attacker sits second in the NEC and ranks 15th nationally in points per game (4.71). A two-time NEC Player of the Week, LaCalandra produced 10 or more points in two games this season, including a career-high seven assists in Saturday’s season finale win over Sacred Heart. The Port Jefferson Station, NY native racked up at least five points in six-of-14 games, and leads the team in assists (36) and points (66) heading into the NEC Tournament where the Sharks enter as the No. 4 seed.

On his way to earning a major award for the second straight season for the Sharks, Mark ranks seventh nationally in saves per game (13.64). The now two-time NEC Defensive Player of the Year ranks second in the NEC and eighth nationally in save percentage (.563). Mark, a Danville, CA native who twice won NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors this spring, had five games in which he made 15 or more saves and currently ranks third in the league and 20th in the NCAA in GAA (10.61).

For the first time since Tim Caton in 2011, a Sacred Heart player was named the NEC Rookie of the Year. Ward was a seven-time NEC Rookie of the Week recipient over the course of the 2022 season. The Highlands Ranch, CO native finished the spring ranked third on the team in goals (17) and fourth in points (26). He led all NEC freshman performers in goals, assist and points. Ward recorded two or more points in eight-of-13 games and scored at least once in 12 contests.

Wray’s sixth NEC Coach of the Year honor extended his own conference record. With a 7-0 mark, the Hawks finished undefeated against league rivals for the fifth time and lifted SJU’s all-time league record to an astonishing 43-8 (.843) since joining the NEC in 2014. Wray’s Hawks feature a balance of high-powered offense and lockdown defense, ranking among the top two teams in the conference in goals per game (14.07), points per game (21.87), and goals against average (10.15). The 20th-ranked Hawks will host the NEC Tournament as they look to win their first-ever NEC title.

In addition to the five major awards winners, the league unveiled its All-NEC first and second teams and an NEC All-Rookie squad. All honorees were determined by a vote of the conference’s head coaches.

AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS

Regular season champion Saint Joseph’s landed a league-high eight student-athletes on All-NEC teams, followed by Hobart with seven. The Hawks placed an NEC-best five players on the first team. LIU and Bryant each earned five all-league selections, followed by Sacred Heart with two and one for Wagner. Interestingly, four of Bryant’s five All-NEC honorees were underclassmen.

Hobart senior attack Ryan Archer (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) and Saint Joseph’s defender Pat Clemens (Springfield, PA/Springfield) made their return to the All-NEC first team for the second-straight season. Archer paces the circuit in assists (3.09) and points (5.18) per game, and on a national scale ranks fourth and ninth, respectively, in the two categories. Clemens leads the Hawks and ranks third in the NEC in caused turnovers (20). LaCalandra and Mark from LIU also repeated as All-NEC first team members, and SJU’s Cole is now a three-time first teamer.

After being named to the All-NEC second team last season, Bryant senior attack Marc O’Rourke (Hingham, MA/Hingham) O’Rourke earned the third first team nod of his stellar career. He leads the NEC and sits 16th nationally in goals per game (3.07). The rare four time all-star is also third in the league and 25th in DI with 4.36 points per game. Saint Joseph’s senior defensive middie Adam Ritter (Conshohocken, PA/Archbishop Carroll (High Point)) made the same jump to the first team. Ritter was a stalwart on a Hawks’ backline that allowed just 8.57 goals per game in NEC play, the second-best mark in the league.

LIU graduate defender Ryan Blume (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester), Sacred Heart senior defensive midfielder Donovan Lacey (Brookeville, MD/Sherwood), Hobart senior midfielder Bradley Simas (Stratham, NH/Berwick Academy) and senior defender Michael Christiansen (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury), along with Saint Joseph’s senior attackman Levi Anderson (Calgary, Alberta/Crescent Heights) and junior attackman Matt Bohmer (Charlotte, NC/Charlotte Catholic), all repeated as All-NEC recipients with their selection to the second team. Blume is second in the league with 22 caused turnovers and his 3.23 ground balls per game is good for tenth. Lacey, a first teamer in 2021, finished third on the Pioneers with 29 ground balls. Simas ranks fourth on the Statesmen in goals (19) and is averaging 1.90 goals per contest heading into the NEC Tournament. Christiansen, a veteran backline presence who was previously a two-time All-NEC first team pick, helped anchor a defense that ranked first in conference play with 8.4 turnovers per game. The high scoring Saint Joseph’s tandem of Anderson and Bohmer were both named to the first team last year. Anderson is currently fourth in the NEC in assists per game (1.93) and seventh in points per game (3.67), while Bohmer ranks fifth in goals (2.53), sixth in points (3.73) and tenth in assists (1.20).

Coming off a terrific junior campaign, Wagner goalkeeper Danny Brady (East Windsor, NJ/Notre Dame) took home second team honors. Brady leads the conference in save percentage (.591), saves per game (14.08), and goals against average (10.05), ranking third, fourth and tenth in the NCAA, respectively.

Every single team was represented with an All-Rookie selection.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 41st season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions in 2022-23 will include Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.