ALBANY, N.Y. — One of the top men's lacrosse players in the country, Connor Fields was unanimously chosen the America East Offensive Player of the Year highlighting the conference's 2017 award winners as they were announced Wednesday evening at an awards reception. TD Ierlan, one of the top faceoff men in the country, was a unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year while Binghamton's Garrett Waldron earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Bearcat head coach Kevin McKeown was the Coach of the Year.
The 2017 #AEMLAX awards, along with the All-Conference teams, were determined in a vote by the league's nine head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Offensive Player of the Year
Connor Fields, Jr, Attacker, Albany
- Tops in the country averaging 6.7 points per game as he has 92 points on 46 goals and 46 assists this season.
- Five-time America East Offensive Player of the Week this season.
- First-team All-Conference choice for the third-straight year.
- Tewaraaton Award nominee.
- Led Albany to its fifth-straight regular-season title and has them ranked # 6/5 in the country.
Defensive Player of the Year
Garrett Waldron, Sr., Defender, Binghamton
- First Bearcat to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors.
- A unanimous first-team All-Conference defender, Waldron leads a unit that sports a league-best 7.65 goals against average.
- Named Defensive Player of the Week once this season.
- Picked up 38 ground balls and caused 17 turnovers in helping Binghamton to its most wins since 2014
Rookie of the Year
TD Ierlan, Fr., Faceoff, Albany
- Has established himself as one of the top faceoff men in the nation.
- Ranks second nationally in face-off percentage, winning 71 percent of his draws.
- Tops in the country picking up 11.1 ground balls per game. Ierlan, also leads the nation in ground balls, averaging over 11 per game.
- Also a first-team All-Conference and All-Rookie honoree.
Coach of the Year
Kevin McKeown, Binghamton
- Led Binghamton to its most wins (10), most conference wins (4) and has his team back in the America East Championship for the first time since 2014.
- First coach in men's lacrosse and just the second in any sport in conference history to win Coach of the Year honors after being named Player of the Year (2004).
- Had the Bearcats back in the national rankings for the first time since 2006.
Twenty-six players earned All-Conference recognition while 10 were All-Rookie choices and 14 garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections.
The 2017 America East Men's Lacrosse Championship takes place at Albany's Casey Stadium and begins Thursday with semifinal action as No. 2 UMBC hosts No. 3 Binghamton at 4:30 p.m. followed by No. 1 Albany taking on No. 4 Stony Brook at 7 p.m. The two winners will face off for the league title on Saturday, May 6 at 12 p.m. For more information on the 2017 America East Championship, visit Championship Central.