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Syracuse Men's Lacrosse News |
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May 24, 2008
SU Men's Lacrosse Garners Eight All-America Nods |
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FOXBORO, Mass. - Eight Syracuse players were rewarded with All-America honors by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) on Saturday, May 24. Senior attackman Mike Leveille (Delmar, N.Y.) and senior midfielder Steven Brooks (Libertyville, Ill.) highlighted the group by being selected to the first team. Junior midfielder Matt Abbott (Syracuse, N.Y.) was a third-team choice. Junior midfielder Dan Hardy (Tully, N.Y.) earned honorable mention plaudits as did senior faceoff specialist Danny Brennan (Farmingdale, N.Y.). Defensively, senior Kyle Guadagnolo (Jordan, N.Y.) and junior Sid Smith (Ohsweken, Ontario) were also honorable mention picks. Junior Kenny Nims (Watertown, N.Y.) rounded out the Orange’s honorees by earning honorable mention distinction at attack.
It was Leveille’s fourth straight All-America nod. He is the 13th four-time All-American in school history and the first since Mike Powell (2001-04). Leveille earned honorable mention distinction in each of his first three seasons. It is the second year in a row Brooks and Hardy have been recognized. They were both honorable mention picks a season ago.
Leveille leads the Orange in points (80), goals (48) and assists (32). He owns a 56-game point scoring streak and ranks in the top 10 nationally in points per game, goals per game and assists per game. Leveille has seven six-point games and notched a season-high five goals in SU’s win against Cornell on April 8. Joining Leveille on the first team at attack were Matt Danowski and Zack Greer of Duke.
Brooks joined Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins), Max Seibald (Cornell) and Nick O’Hara (Duke) in the first midfield. Brooks lists third on the team in points (38) and goals (27). He has five game-winning tallies in 2008 and tied his career high with four scores at Johns Hopkins on March 15, including the golden goal in overtime.
Abbott is second on the team with 67 ground balls. A do-it-all middie, Abbott plays the wing on faceoffs, is part of SU’s man-down unit and remains on the field in other defensive situations in addition to work in the offensive end of the field. He’s produced 13 goals and eight assists this year and has at least one point in each of SU’s last five games. He tallied his first career hat trick to help lead SU past Virginia in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday.
Brennan is the nation’s premier faceoff specialist. He leads the country in faceoff winning percentage at .681. He is 201-for-295 at the X and he’s on pace to finish with the fourth-best single-season faceoff winning percentage in school history. His 201 victories is tied for seventh on SU’s season record list and his 472 career faceoff wins is second on the program’s all-time ledger. Brennan won a season-best 19 draws in the Face-Off Classic against Virginia on March 1 and posted 19 wins versus the Cavaliers in the national semifinals.
Hardy has 22 goals and 15 assists in 2008 and he is SU’s second-leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament with 10 points. Against Rutgers on April 12, he exploded for a personal-best four goals to lead Syracuse to a 17-9 triumph on the road.
Nims is the perfect complement to Leveille and is having the best year of his career. He is second on the team in goals (32), assists (24) and points (56). He scored a career-best six goals in SU’s season-opening win versus Villanova and dished out a career-high five assists at Cornell. Nims has a point in 16-of-17 games this season.
Guadagnolo and Smith have anchored an SU defense that has cut its goal-against average down to 7.48, almost four goals per game fewer than 2007. Guadagnolo has 35 ground balls on the year and Smith has 34. Both players have started every game in close this season and mark the opposing team’s top two attackmen.
SU’s eight All-America selections were its most since 2002 when it also had eight nods.
The Orange will face fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins in the NCAA title game at Gillette Stadium on Monday, May 26 at 1 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
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Source: SU Sports Information Department
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