Air Force Sweeps SoCon Post Season Lacrosse Awards
5/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Regular-season champion Air Force swept the Southern Conference men's lacrosse postseason awards as voted on by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Tuesday. Falcon attacker Chris Walsch was tabbed SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Doug Gouchoe was named Defensive Player of the Year. Head coach Eric Seremet and defender Brandon Jones made it a clean sweep, taking Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades, respectively.
The league's coaches also selected two all-conference teams and an all-freshman squad.
Walsch earned offensive honors by racking up 29 goals, 25 assists and a league-leading 54 points this season. The sophomore from Hampstead, Md., also notched four game-winning scores during the 2016 campaign, which tied for most in the SoCon. Walsch scored on 35.4 percent of his shots and netted goals on 65.9 percent of his shots that were on frame. His signature performance came in a seven-point effort in a 10-9 upset at then-No. 9 Duke on March 22, capped by a game-winner in the waning seconds of overtime. Walsch earned league offensive player of the week honors three times and was named offensive player of the month for March.
Gouchoe led the league in goals against average (6.93) among players who appeared in more than seven games and was also tops in save percentage (.572) among players who appeared in more than 11 contests. The four-time defensive player of the week selection and two-time player of the month honoree had one of his best performances when he stymied Duke's third-ranked scoring offense with 17 saves. He also recorded a season-high 19 stops at Marist on Feb. 20, the second-most in a game this season in the SoCon.
Jones, a newcomer from Upper Arlington, Ohio, led Air Force with 24 caused turnovers and was fourth in the conference and 22nd nationally with 1.53 caused turnovers per game. The Freshman of the Year pick also collected 36 ground balls for the Falcons this season, which ranked second on the team.
Seremet, who is in his eighth season at the reigns of Air Force, took Coach of the Year distinction in his squad's first season in the league, helping guide the Falcons to a 13-2 overall mark and a perfect 7-0 record in conference play. Air Force achieved its highest ranking in program history by climbing up to No. 9 in the Cascade/Maverik media poll on April 18.
Air Force had a league-high seven All-SoCon selections, including five first-team picks, followed by Richmond (six total), High Point (five), Bellarmine (four), Jacksonville and Mercer (two) and VMI (one).
Walsch is joined by High Point's Dan Lomas and Matt Thistle and VMI's Wesley Sanders as first-team attackers. Lomas and Thistle were first and second in the league with 2.57 and 2.14 goals per game, respectively.
Air Force's Christopher Allen, Bellarmine's Tucker Ciessau, Jacksonville's Dakota Rohlin and Richmond's Alex Hatem comprise the first-team midfield.
Defending for the first team is Air Force's Alex Warden, High Point's Zack Price and Richmond's Brendan Hynes. Gouchoe claimed the goalkeeper spot, while teammate Josh Radjenovich grabbed the face-off specialist position. Bellarmine's Taylor Stuart was voted on as the longstick midfielder.
The second team is headlined by High Point attacker Michael LeClair, who tied for the league lead in points per game with 3.71. Mercer's Chris Baxa and Richmond's Mitch Goldberg were also tabbed as second-team attackers.
Air Force's Andrew Tien, High Point's Dallas Bridle and Richmond's Jean-Luc Chetner nabbed spots on the second team as midfielders.
Air Force's Jones, along with Bellarmine's Kevin Fahey and Richmond's Ryan Dennis, were selected to the second team as defensemen, while Jacksonville's Ben Gleichenhaus and Mercer's Mike Nugent share the goalkeeper slot due to a tie. Bellarmine's Connor Harryman and Richmond's Austin Cates were voted into the face-off specialist and longstick midfielder spots, respectively.
The six-member all-freshman team includes Jones, Tim Troutner, Jr. from High Point, Eric Applegate from Jacksonville, Lucas Wittenberg from Mercer, Teddy Hatfield from Richmond and Kyle Walsh from VMI.
The 2016 SoCon Men's Lacrosse Championship, hosted by the University of Richmond, begins Thursday with two semifinal contests and will conclude Saturday with a noon title game. Thursday's two semifinal matchups, which feature No. 1 seed Air Force against No. 4 seed Bellarmine (5 p.m.) and No. 2 seed Richmond versus No. 3 seed High Point (7:30 p.m.), can be viewed on the SoCon Digital Network. The championship game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
2016 SoCon Men's Lacrosse Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Chris Walsch, Air Force, So., A
Defensive Player of the Year
Doug Gouchoe, Air Force, Sr., GK
Freshman of the Year
Brandon Jones, Air Force, D
Coach of the Year
Eric Seremet, Air Force
All-SoCon First Team (four attackers and midfielders due to ties in voting)
A - Chris Walsch, Air Force, So.
A - Dan Lomas, High Point, Sr.
A - Matt Thistle, High Point, Sr.
A - Wesley Sanders, VMI, So.
M - Christopher Allen, Air Force, Sr.
M - Tucker Ciessau, Bellarmine, Jr.
M - Dakota Rohlin, Jacksonville, Sr.
M - Alex Hatem, Richmond, Sr.
D - Alex Warden, Air Force, Sr.
D - Zack Price, High Point, Jr.
D - Brendan Hynes, Richmond, Jr.
GK - Doug Gouchoe, Air Force, Sr.
FO - Josh Radjenovich, Air Force, So.
LSM - Taylor Stuart, Bellarmine, Sr.
All-SoCon Second Team (two goalkeepers due to tie in voting)
A - Michael LeClair, High Point, Jr.
A - Chris Baxa, Mercer, Sr.
A - Mitch Goldberg, Richmond, Jr.
M - Andrew Tien, Air Force, So.
M - Dallas Bridle, High Point, Jr.
M - Jean-Luc Chetner, Richmond, Jr.
D - Brandon Jones, Air Force, Fr.
D - Kevin Fahey, Bellarmine, Jr.
D - Ryan Dennis, Richmond, Jr.
GK - Ben Gleichenhaus, Jacksonville, So.
GK - Mike Nugent, Mercer, Sr.
FO - Connor Harryman, Bellarmine, So.
LSM - Austin Cates, Richmond, So.
All-Freshman Team
Brandon Jones, Air Force, D
Tim Troutner, Jr., High Point, GK
Eric Applegate, Jacksonville, M
Lucas Wittenberg, Mercer, M
Teddy Hatfield, Richmond, A
Kyle Walsh, VMI, D
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