JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Air Force, Jacksonville and Utah all earned individual superlative awards to headline the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Men's Lacrosse postseason honors announced Wednesday.
Utah's Ryan Stines was named Offensive Player of the Year. Stines started all 13 games for the Utes and totaled 37 goals, and 25 assists good for 62 points to go along with two cuased turnovers and 28 ground balls. He owns the program record with 241 career points and ranks second in goals (146) and assists (95). The attacker became the first Ute in program history to be drafted when he was drafted to the Utah Archers in the PLL College Draft.
Utah's Nikko DiPonio was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year after casuing 36 turnovers and 79 ground balls. He ranks second nationally and leads the conference with 2.76 caused turnovers per game and ranks 20th nationally with 6.08 ground balls per game. DiPonio anchored a defensive unit that allowed 9.69 goals per game, the 12th best mark in the nation, caused 12.92 turnovers (the most in Division I) and picked up 39.38 ground balls per game, also the best in the NCAA. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native was picked 24th overall by the New York Atlas in the PLL College Draft.
Jacksonville's Drew Rippeon was named Specialist of the Year. He won .608 percent of his faceoffs, ranking 6th best in the nation and first in the ASUN. His 7.92 ground balls per game ranks sisxth nationally and second in the leauge. Against ranked opponents, Rippeon won 53% of draws with 9.3 groundballs per game, including going 12-23 against No. 3 North Carolina. He met his season-high 10 ground balls twice and recorded eight games with at least eight ground balls.
Dolphins' Midfileder, Zane Czeschin was named Freshman of the Year. He ranks fourth amongst all freshman in the country in goals per game (2.46) and sixth in the ASUN. The Birmingham, Ala., native has scored at least one goal in each of Jacksonville's contests this season. He tallied 22 ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Air Forces' Bill Wilson was named Coach of the Year after turning a 2-6 non-conference start into a four game winning streak highlighted by an upset overtime win against #18 Utah in the season finale. The win propelled the Falcons to a share of the ASUN regular season title for the third straight season. Jacksonville's John Galloway was also named Coach of the Year after leading his team to a share of the regular season title and the top seed in the ASUN Men's Lacrosse Championship. Under Galloway's guidance, the Dolphins had the second-highest scoring team in the league, posting 14.31 goals per game and went 4-1 in ASUN play with the best margin of victory in the league.
Offensive Player of the Year: Ryan Stines, Utah
Defensive Player of the Year: Nikko DiPonio, Utah
Specialist of the Year: Drew Rippeon, Jacksonville
Freshman of the Year: Zane Czeschin, Jacksonville
Coach of the Year: Bill Wilson, Air Force and John Galloway, Jacksonville
First Team All-ASUN
A - Ryan Stines, Utah
A - Caelan Driggs, Air Force
A - Jack Taylor, Jacksonville
MF - Cade Faulkner, Utah
MF - Cole Rassas, Air Force
MF - Zane Czeschin, Jacksonville
LS - Cole Cunningham, Air Force
SS - Breyden Harrison, Jacksonville
D - Nikko DiPonio, Utah
D - Charlie Pyfer, Air Force
D - Aaron Toguri, Jacksonville
FO - Drew Rippeon, Jacksonville
GK - Ryan Della Rocco, Jacksonville
Second Team All-ASUN
A - John Alie, Bellarmine
A - Luke McNamara, Utah
A - Ezra Moore, Bellarmine
A - Nicky Brown, Jacksonville
MF - Luke Vrsansky, Air Force
MF - Michael Blaymires, Bellarmine
MF - Ryan McDaniel, Queens
LS - Lucas Fraser, Jacksonville
SS - Kyle Harrison, Utah
D - Michael White, Queens
D - Luca Pivetta, Utah
D - Thomas Venzie, Mercer
FO - Tyler Kloeckl, Utah
GK - Colin Lenskold, Utah
Note - a tie in voting resulted in 14-person All-ASUN Second Team
All-Freshman Team
Zane Czeschin, Jacksonville
Jack Gounaris, Air Force
Ben Heidt, Air Force
Christian Schweiger, Air Force
Jack Fischel, Bellarmine
Dillon O’Rourke, Bellarmine
Josh Hedderich, Jacksonville
Grant Maloney, Jacksonville
Kai Smith, Jacksonville
Nick Church, Mercer
Noah McGovern, Queens
Jacob Neuman, Mercer
Luke Sheppard, Utah