Complete Preseason All-America Team
LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's Sean Rogers was named to the 2017 Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division III Preseason All-America Second Team. A total of eight members from the Centennial Conference (CC) earned the distinction.
The junior attacker was one of the CC's most dynamic scorers a year ago, landing United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America Third Team honors after leading the Conference in points (70) and goals (35) while ranking second in assists (35).
His 70 points on the season were the most by a Diplomat since 1995 as he tallied multiple points in 15 out of 17 contests. On three occasions he recorded a season-high eight points and picked up 32 ground balls to go along with nine caused turnovers on the year. Rogers collected 109 points during his first two seasons in Lancaster, making him one of the fastest to reach the 100-point plateau.
Three members of the Gettysburg College men's lacrosse team have been named to the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division III Preseason All-America Team, it was recently announced.
Senior long-stick midfielder Chris Palladino (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) landed first-team honors while sophomore short-stick midfielder Ryan Kelly (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) captured second-team status. In addition, sophomore attackman Tommy Heller (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) garnered third-team recognition.
The trio helped the Bullets to another banner season in 2016, when they finished 17-3, defended their Centennial Conference title, and reached the NCAA Division III semifinals for the second year in a row.
A USILA Second Team All-American last season, Palladino helped lead a defense that finished sixth in Division III and fifth in school history in goals allowed per game (6.30), held its opponents to a single-digit goal total in 17 of 20 games, and limited nine opponents to under six goals. The team leader in ground balls (82) and caused turnovers (40), Palladino was also a First Team All-Centennial Conference selection, tying for the conference lead in ground balls and finishing second in caused turnovers. He posted one of his top performances in a 7-6 overtime victory at York (Pa.) College in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III tournament, recording four ground balls and four caused turnovers. He also registered career-bests of seven ground balls and five caused turnovers in a win over Messiah College.
Also a main contributor for the Gettysburg defense, Kelly made an immediate impact for the Bullets last season, playing in all 20 games as a first-line defensive midfielder. He finished the season with 25 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers, and he also scored one goal. In one of his top games of the year, Kelly picked up four ground balls and scored a goal in a 9-4 victory at Dickinson College.
Heller is coming off an outstanding debut season for the Bullets. Starting all 20 games, he finished fourth on the team and led all Bullet attackmen in goals (32), assists (17), and points (49). He registered an outstanding performance in the Centennial Conference playoffs, in which he set tournament records for goals (11) and points (15) and was named tournament MVP. Heller also broke the CC tournament record for goals in a game with a season-high six tallies in the team's 18-8 victory over Swarthmore College in the semifinals. In addition, he netted five goals in two other games, including a 9-2 victory over Ursinus College in the conference championship game.
Will Kroppe, a senior on the McDaniel men's lacrosse team, has been named a 2017 All-American by the Face-Off Yearbook, released on Thursday.
A defender, Kroppe was tabbed honorable mention on the preseason list. He is one of eight Centennial Conference (CC) men's lacrosse players to earn the accolade.
As a junior, Kroppe was named first-team All-CC after leading the conference with 41 caused turnovers this season. Starting all 14 games in which he appeared, Kroppe also paced the team with 71 ground balls.
Three members of the Ursinus College men's lacrosse team were named to the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Division III Preseason All-America Team on Friday.
Senior defenseman Zach Jones, senior midfielder Matthew Cioeta, and junior midfielder Gerard Brown all collected third-team recognition. Three of eight Centennial Conference players to receive the preseason accolade, all were first team all-league performers and major factors in the Bears' return trip to the CC championship game a year ago.
Jones garnered honorable mention USILA All-America honors last season as the head of a stingy unit that ranked 24th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing only 7.35 goals per game. He started 19 games, recording 19 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
Also an honorable mention All-American, Brown was one of the nation's breakout stars in 2016, racking up a school-record 37 assists in addition to 15 goals. The sophomore's 52 points were one shy of the program standard set by Dane Mangin in 2006, and Brown joined goalkeeper Brian Neff as the only Ursinus sophomores to earn All-American honors. Brown has 54 career assists already, the third-most in CC history for a player in his first two seasons.
Brown, who was 26th in Division III in assists per game (2.18), had six games with at least three helpers, including a five-assist outburst in the season opener against Albright. He is already fifth in school history in assists and well on pace to break the all-time mark of 101 held by Anthony Tori. Brown added 19 ground balls and a caused turnover to his ledger.
Cioeta was an all-CC selection for the first time after a standout campaign as a short-stick midfielder. He finished second on the team in caused turnovers (13) and tied for second in ground balls (50), contributing 10 goals and 10 assists in 17 games (13 starts).