Le Moyne’s McDonald Named Northeast-10
Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year

- Bryant’s Crowly Selected Freshman of the Year; Le Moyne’s Bezek Honored as Defensive Player of the Year; Merrimack’s Spinale Picked as Goalkeeper of the Year; Le Moyne’s Sheehan and Merrimack’s Morgan Voted Co-Coaches of the Year -

Sunday, May 4, 2008

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South Easton, Mass. – Le Moyne College senior attack Mike McDonald (Latham, N.Y.) was named the 2008 Northeast-10 Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year as voted by the conference’s 11 coaches.

McDonald has led the Dolphins to a perfect 10-0 conference record to clinch the team’s eighth Northeast-10 Regular Season Title in nine years. The senior is ranked second in the conference in assists per game (1.86), third in points per game (3.86) and is ranked in the top ten in goals per game (2.00). His stat line includes 28 goals, 26 assists and 54 points. McDonald is also ranked among the Division II leaders in all three categories. In addition, the former NE-10 freshman of the year, was selected to the All Northeast-10 First-Team for the fourth time in his collegiate career.

Bryant University’s Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) was selected the 2008 Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year. In his first year of collegiate play, Crowley is currently ranked third on the Bulldogs in scoring with 20 goals, 11 assists and 31 points. He also has 11 ground balls and three of his 20 goals are man-up goals. In addition, Crowley was named to the All Northeast-10 Second-Team.

Le Moyne’s sophomore defender Drew Bezek (Syracuse, N.Y.) was tabbed top defender as the 2008 Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year. Bezek anchored a Dolphin defense that surrendered only 3.24 goals per games and held opponents to 19.4 shots per game. On the year, he currently has 19 ground balls and one goal and was selected to the All Northeast-10 First-Team.

Merrimack College’s Cory Spinale (Wakefield, Mass.) was named the 2008 Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Year. Spinale has helped the Warriors’ defense hold opponents to 6.85 goals per game while in net, which is third best in the Northeast-10. He ranks second among the conference goalkeepers in save percentage (.666) and saves per game (13.13). Spinale is ranked among the Division II leaders in goals against average (6th) and save percentage (2nd). He was also selected to the All Northeast-10 First-Team for the first time in his career.

Le Moyne’s Dan Sheehan and Merrimack’s Michael Morgan were both voted the 2008 Northeast-10 Co-Coaches of the Year by their peers. This is Sheehan’s seventh time winning the award as he guided his team to an undefeated season (14-0) and a trip to the Northeast-10 Championship game. Morgan, in his first year at the helm at Merrimack, guided the Warriors to an 8-2 conference record (12-4 overall) and the third seed in this year’s tournament.

Sponsoring 23 championship sports and 15 full-time members, the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation and sponsors the most championships of any Division II conference.

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2008 Northeast-10 Men's Lacrosse All Conference Selections

First-Team

Mike Ball, Southern New Hampshire
Mike McDonald, Le Moyne
Greg Rogowski, Merrimack
Alex Bily, Le Moyne
Nick Gatto, Le Moyne
Jim Long, Bryant
Drew Bezek, Le Moyne
Mike Malone, Le Moyne
Matt Murnane, Bryant
Brian Griffin, Le Moyne
Cory Spinale, Merrimack

Second-Team

Briant Cost, Le Moyne
Kevin Hoagland, Bryant
Chris Murphy, Saint Anselm
Gary Crowley, Bryant
John Delanoy, Southern New Hampshire
Steve Trocki, Saint Anselm
Matt Allen, Bentley
Tim MacLean, Le Moyne
Steve Mazza, Merrimack
Kevin Simmons, Saint Michael's
Andrew Hennessey, Bryant
Doug McIver, Le Moyne