Thursday, May 2, 2013

Lyle Thompson And Coach Marr Headline End Of The Year Conference Awards

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The University at Albany men’s lacrosse landed nine players on the America East All-Conference squad and featured sophomore attack Lyle Thompson as Player of the Year and Scott Marr as Coach of the Year on Wednesday, May 1.

Lyle, a 2013 Tewaaraton Award nominee, continues to add to his already impressive resume. The nation’s leader in both assists (3.79) and points (6.64) per game is the fourth Great Dane in program history to garner the conference’s Player of the Year honor. The Onondaga Nation, N.Y. native has recorded 93 points on 40 goals and 53 assists this season. His 93 points are second best in league history and 17 points behind conference leader John Grant’s(Delaware) 110 points set in the 1999 season. The 53 assists is a program best and is two assists shy of surpassing Grant’s record of 54 for the conference record.

Coach Marr has guided the Great Danes to memorable 2013 season which earned him his third Coach of the Year honor. Marr has coached UAlbany to wins over two storied programs on the road, Syracuse (16-15 OT) and Johns Hopkins (10-9). The two wins put the Great Danes in company with just one other team in NCAA history to accomplish the feat, Virginia back in 2009. Marr, an offensive-minded head coach, watches his run-and-gun offense lead the nation in scoring, averaging just under 16 goals per game (15.80). The 13-year head coach at UAlbany recorded his 100th victory against Harvard on March 26.

Along with Lyle, Miles Thompson and Jon Newhouse were named to the America East All-Conference First Team. Miles, despite being hampered by injury this season, is fourth in the conference in points with 54. The junior attack had his best game of his career on the last day of the season, recording 14 points on five goals and nine assists against Stony Brook. The 14-point game shattered his brother Lyle’s 11-point game previously set against UMBC earlier this season and tied for the third highest point total in NCAA history (Air Force’s Bill Woolford – 16, John DiMento – 15). Newhouse, starting in 14 of the team’s 15 games, recorded the teams third highest ground ball total (39) and second highest caused turnover (19).

The Great Danes filled up six of the 13 possible positions on the America East All-Conference Second Team. Junior attack Ty Thompson tops the list, leading the team with 44 goals and is fifth in nation in goals per game at 2.93. In the midfield, Ryan Feuerstein and Mike Woods garnered their first all-conference accolades combined for 21 points on 16 goals and eight assists. The defense comprised of Cody Futia and Jack Nickla. Futia makes the squad for the second consecutive season, while Nickla makes it for the first time. Both defenders combined 31 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers. Freshman goalie Blaze Riorden has been impressive between the pipes in his rookie season. Riorden is tied for second in save percentage (51.2) and is second in both goals against average (11.35) and saves per game (11.33).

Freshmen Derrick Eccles, John Maloney and Kevin McNally joined Riorden on the America East All-Rookie Team. Maloney led the pack with 19 points on 16 goals and three assists, which was fifth best on the team. Eccles, a redshirt-freshman, and McNally combined for 15 goals and five assists.

Off the field, Futia shines in the classroom with a 3.74 GPA in business administration. His 3.74 GPA put him on the America East All-Academic squad for this first time in his career.

The Great Danes are in pursuit for their fifth America East Conference Tournament Championship and are matched up with No. 4 seed Stony Brook in the semifinals on Thursday, May 2 at LaValle Stadium. Game is slated for 7 p.m.
 
 

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