Men’s Lacrosse: Ohio State Garners Eight All-GWLL Honors – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
COLUMBUS, Ohio Led by 2008 GWLL Player of the Year Kevin Buchanan, four Ohio State men’s lacrosse players earned a spot on the All-GWLL first team, the Great Western Lacrosse League announced Thursday. Four other Buckeyes were second-team selections, giving Ohio State a league-high eight honorees.
Buchanan and junior Joel Dalgarno earned spots on the All-GWLL first team at attack and were joined by juniors midfielder Peet Poillon and defenseman Scott Matthews. On the second team, sophomore James Green was a selection at midfield, senior Ricky Pages was the long-stick midfielder honoree, sophomore Keith Lovett earned a spot on defense and senior Stefan Schroder was the second-team goalie.
Buchanan, a senior attackman from Cockeysville, Md., leads the GWLL and is second nationally in scoring with 63 points, averaging 4.85 points a game. He is the first Buckeye to be named the league player of the year since Greg Bice and Tony Russo shared the award in 2004. This marks the third first-team all-conference selection for Buchanan. A three-time GWLL Player of the Week this season, he has eight games with five or more points this year, including in each of the last seven outings, and has multiple points in all 13 games. He had a career-best six goals and nine points vs. Denver April 19 and hast at least one point in each of his last 42 games. Buchanan ranks seventh nationally in goals per game (2.85), posting a career-best 37 goals this season and is eighth in the NCAA in assists per game (2.00) with a career-best 26 helpers. Buchanan now has 162 career points (90g, 72a) to rank fourth in Ohio State history ranks sixth in career assists and just outside the Top 10 for career goals. His 63 points this season are tied for the eight-best single-season performance for a Buckeye.
Coquitlam, British Columbia, native Dalgarno, the 2006 GWLL Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-league selection last season, ranks fifth in the NCAA in points per game (4.54) with a career-best 59 points, including 31 goals and 28 assists, this year. He is fourth in the NCAA and first in the GWLL, averaging 2.15 assists an outing. He has at least one point in all but one game as a Buckeye and has multiple points in 12-of-13 games this season. His nine goals and 12 assists vs. Denver April 19 and his eight-assist game vs. Quinnipiac March 29 rank among the top single-game performances in the NCAA this season and in Ohio State history. Dalgarno has 150 points for the Scarlet and Gray, ranking sixth (tied) in program history. His 66 career assists rank seventh all-time.
Poillon, in his first season as a Buckeye, is third on the team with 26 goals and ranks fourth with 32 points. The native of Cranberry Township, Pa., has multiple points in 11-of-13 games and was held scoreless just once this season. He has two four-point outings, with a hat trick in each, and also recorded a hat trick in two other games. He is tied for the team lead with seven man-up goals on the year.
Matthews, from Nottingham, Md., is in his third year as a starter on defense. He has 25 groundballs on the year, including four vs. Air Force and Villanova. He scored his first career goal at Quinnipiac on his only shot of the year.
Doylestown, Pa., native Green, who has started all 13 games, has career highs of 18 goals, 10 assists and 28 points this year. He is coming off a career-best four points (3g, 1a) in back-to-back games vs. Denver April 19 and Notre Dame April 27. He has points in all but one game on the year, with multiple points in 11.
Pages, a first-team All-GWLL choice the last two seasons and a native of East Rockaway, N.Y. , has played in all 13 games this season. He has 29 groundballs this year, including a career-best six at Bucknell. Pages has chipped in two goals, two assists and four points this season, with goals at Villanova and vs. Bellarmine and assists at Bucknell and vs. North Carolina.
Lovett, a Madison, N.J., native in his first season as a defensive starter, started all 13 regular-season contests. He is third on the team with 34 groundballs, including six vs. Denver and four in three other games.
Kirkville, N.Y., native Schroder, who earned second-team all-league honors in his first season with the Buckeyes last year, started all 13 games for the Buckeyes in the regular season, with a 9-4 mark. He is in the Top 20 in the nation in both goals-against average (8.15) and save percentage (.577) and had 10 or more saves in seven games, including each of the last four. Schroder, who allowed eight goals or less in nine games, is second on the team with 43 groundballs.
The No. 10-ranked Buckeyes (9-4, 4-1/t-1st GWLL) return to action this weekend in the inaugural GWLL tournament at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Mich. No. 2 seed Ohio State will take on No. 3 Denver at 7:30 p.m., preceded by No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Quinnipiac at 5 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game at noon Sunday, with the tournament champion receiving the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
