BALTIMORE - UMBC, the America East regular-season champion in men’s lacrosse, took home a pair of major awards at the league’s annual postseason banquet on Wednesday evening, as Terry Kimener (Oakton, Va./Bridgton Academy) was named the conference’s Player of the Year and Don Zimmerman was tabbed Coach of the Year. Stony Brook’s Jordan McBride (New Westminster, British Columbia/New Westminster) was also chosen Rookie of the Year to cap the three major award honorees. The winners, along with the all-conference teams, were determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches.
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Kimener, a senior, ranks third in America East in points (42, 3.23 pg), third in assists (18, 1.38 pg) and sixth in goals (24, 1.85 pg). A first-team all-conference selection each of the last three seasons, Kimener was a USILA honorable mention All-American in 2007. This year, he is a nominee for the Tewaarton Award, which annually recognizes the top player in the country.
Zimmerman, who is in his 15th season at the helm of the Retrievers, led his squad to a 10-3 record in the regular season, including a program record nine straight victories. His team has been ranked as high as fifth this season, UMBC’s highest ranking in school history. This is the second time in three seasons Zimmerman has taken home the award, as he was also named Coach of the Year in 2006.
McBride, a freshman, is one of the most prolific scorers in the country. He leads the nation averaging 3.31 goals per game and ranks among national leaders with 4.15 points per contest after finding the back of the net 43 times and racking up 54 points this season. He came within one score of the NCAA single-game record with 10 goals in an upset victory over seventh-ranked Delaware on March 15.
Joining Kimener and McBride on the first team is Albany’s Brian Caufield (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip), Jordan Levine (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) and Craig McDonald (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), UMBC’s Bobby Atwell (Dunkirk, Md./Southern), Ryan Smith (Fallston/Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) and Jeremy Blevins Cockeysville, Md./Calvert Hall) and Stony Brook’s Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia/New Westminster/Simon Fraser) and Steve Waldeck (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur).
The second team consists of Albany’s Steve Ammann (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley), Brett Queener (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy), Chris Schongar (Clifton Park, N.Y/Shenendehowa) and Corey Small (St. Catharines, Ontario/Holy Cross), UMBC’s Mike Camardo (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) and Matt Latham (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty), Stony Brook’s Owen Adams (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk), Rhys Duchs (Victoria, British Columbia/Baggataway Club Team) and Bo Tripodi (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) and Vermont’s Michael Watson (Albany, N.Y./Albany Academy).
Caufield, Crowley and McBride are joined on the all-rookie squad by Albany’s Mike Banks (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) and Joe Pompo (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee), Binghamton’s Derrick Danieu (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), Hartford’s Michael Cudmore (Ashburn, Ontario/All Saints Catholic), UMBC’s Jamie Kimbles (Centreville, Mass./Queen Anne’s) and Dom Scalzo (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) and Vermont’s Derek Lichtfuss (Lutherville, Md. /St. Paul’s).
The 12-member all-academic team, which honors the conference’s top athletes with a 3.0 grade-point average or higher, was highlighted by second-team honorees Ammann, Duchs and Latham. Also on the squad is Binghamton’s Steve Carlson (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan Academy), Larry Kline (Beverly, Mass./Beverly), Jeff Rurey (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal), Drew Wichmann (Syracuse, N.Y./Cocoran) and Chris Winter (Buffalo, N.Y./Beverly), Hartford’s Chris Griffin (Medford, Mass./Elmira College), UMBC’s Chris Jones (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) and Vermont’s Justin Lubas (Freehold, NJ /Christian Brothers Academy). Ammann boasted the highest GPA amongst the 12 honorees with a 3.86.
The All-Academic team is a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.
The All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletically, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the postseason awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., 10 on the field for men’s lacrosse). Freshmen are not eligible for the all-academic teams and grade-point averages are taken from the semester prior to the competing athletic season.
Nineteen of the 20 all-conference sections will be in action at the 2008 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship, which begins on Thursday, May 1 at UMBC Stadium. For more information on America East men’s lacrosse, including live stats for all three games of the tournament and streaming video for the championship game, log on to the conference’s official website www.AmericaEast.com.