Fields Named Offensive Player of Year, Albany Sweeps Major #AEMLAX Awards
ALBANY, N.Y. — In the midst of the one of the best seasons for an #AEMLAX team in conference history, Albany swept all four major awards highlighting the league’s 2018 award winners as they were announced Wednesday evening at an awards reception. TD Ierlan, one of the top faceoff men in the country, was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year while Tehoka Nanticoke earned Rookie of the Year honors and head coach Scott Marr was the Coach of the Year.
The 2018 #AEMLAX awards, along with the All-Conference teams, were determined in a vote by the league's seven head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Complete Awards Listing
Offensive Player of the Year
Connor Fields, Sr., Attacker, Albany
- Second-straight Offensive Player of the Year honor.
- Tewaaraton Award nominee.
- Ranks third in the country averaging 5.9 points per game and has 71 points on 29 goals and 42 assists in 12 games this season.
- Three-time America East Offensive Player of the Week this season.
- A first-team All-Conference choice for the fourth-straight year.
Defensive Player of the Year
TD Ierlan, So., Faceoff Specialist, Albany
- Second Great Dane in three years to win the award.
- Tewaaraton Award nominee.
- Leads the nation with an astounding .817 faceoff win percentage and is on pace to set a new NCAA record.
- Also leads the country averaging 13.1 ground balls per game.
- Two-time America East Defensive Player of the Week this season.
- Also the America East first-team faceoff specialist.
Rookie of the Year
Tehoka Nanticoke, Fr., Attacker, Albany
- Third Great Dane to earn the honor in the last four years.
- Nanticoke’s 4.5 points per game ranks second in the league and in the top 20 nationally.
- Has 63 points on 37 goals and 26 assists in his freshman campaign.
- Was a six-time America East Rookie of the Week selection this season.
- Also a first-team All-Conference attacker and All-Rookie choice.
Coach of the Year
Scott Marr, Albany
- Selected Coach of the Year for a record sixth time and the fourth time since 2013.
- Albany, currently ranked fourth in the nation, became the first America East team to achieve a number 1 ranking and spent six weeks ranked atop both national polls.
- The 12-2 Great Danes captured their sixth-straight America East regular-season title this year.
- In his 18th season as Albany head coach.
Twenty-six players earned All-Conference recognition while 10 were All-Rookie choices and 12 garnered All-Academic recognition.
The 2018 America East Men's Lacrosse Championship takes place at Albany's Casey Stadium and begins Thursday with semifinal action as No. 2 Stony Brook hosts No. 3 Vermont at 4:30 p.m. followed by No. 1 Albany taking on No. 4 UMass Lowell at 7 p.m. The two winners will face off for the league title on Saturday, May 5 at 12 p.m. The semifinals will air on ESPN+ with the title game on ESPNU.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMLAX hashtags to join the conversation.
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