BOSTON – The 2024 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship begins on Thursday at UAlbany and ahead of the start of the tournament the host and regular-season champion Great Danes took home three #AEMLAX major awards to highlight this year’s honors. Vermont also claimed two while Bryant earned one. The major awards were announced on Wednesday afternoon along with All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic honorees.
UAlbany’s Jake Piseno was named Defensive of the Year for the second-straight year while teammate Ryan Doherty earned Rookie of the Year honors and Scott Marr was named Coach of the Year for a conference-record seventh time. Vermont’s Charlie Pope received Offensive Player of the Year recognition and George Egan garnered the inaugural Goalkeeper of the Year award while Bryant’s Nathan LaLiberte was named the league’s first Faceoff Specialist of the Year.
The majority of award winners were determined in a vote by the league's head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players. The All-Academic selections were chosen by a committee of athletic administrators.
2024 #AEMLAX Major Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year
Charlie Pope, Jr., Midfielder, Vermont
- League leader in goals (40) and second in goals per game (2.86 ppg).
- Tied for third in points (47) and sixth in points per game (3.36 ppg).
- Third-ever Catamount to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors.
- He was also selected to the All-Conference First Team.
Defensive Player of the Year
Jake Piseno, Gr., Defender, UAlbany
- After shutting down opponents’ top attackers all season, Piseno is the conference’s first-ever repeat Defensive Player of Year.
- Leads the conference and ranks second in the country averaging 2.6 caused turnovers per game.
- Ranks sixth in the conference and in the top 50 nationally with 4.6 ground balls per contest.
- Also scored 10 goals and added four assists with the long pole.
- Also a first-team All-Conference selection.
Goalkeeper of the Year
George Egan, Vermont, Sr., Goalkeeper
- Is the conference’s first-ever Goalkeeper of the Year.
- Led the league in league play in save percentage (.569) and is second in goals against average (10.54)
- Also the league’s First-Team All-Conference Goalkeeper.
Faceoff Specialist of the Year
Nathan Laliberte, Bryant, Sr., Faceoff
- Is the conference’s first-ever Faceoff Specialist of the Year.
- Leads the league and ranks second in the country with a .629 faceoff win percentage.
- Tied for second in the conference in ground balls per game (8.4 gbpg).
- Also a first-team All-Conference selection.
Rookie of the Year
Ryan Doherty, Fr., Attack, UAlbany
- Was a unanimous Rookie of the Year selection.
- Totaled 37 points on 26 goals and 11 assists during his freshman campaign.
- In conference games, ranked ninth in goals per game (2.7 gpg) and 11th in points per game (3.5 ppg).
- First Great Dane to earn Rookie of the Year honors since Tehoka Nanticoke in 2017.
- Was a two-time America East Rookie of the Week choice this season.
- Also an All-Rookie choice.
Coach of the Year
Scott Marr, UAlbany
- Led UAlbany to its first America East regular-season title since 2018 with a 6-1 conference mark.
- The regular-season crown is UAlbany’s 10th all-time.
- This is Marr’s seventh America East Coach of Year honor, the most in league history. He previously won the award in 2002, ’07, ’13, ’14, ’16 and ’18.
In addition to the major awards, the All-Conference teams were also named. Vermont led the way with five first-team selections and seven overall. UAlbany had six while Bryant had five, Binghamton had four, UMBC three and NJIT two.
Many of the award winners will be in action at the 2024 #AEMLAX Championship starting tomorrow at UAlbany's Casey Stadium. No. 2 Vermont and No. 3 UMBC will square off in the first semifinal on Thursday at 4 p.m. while No. 1 UAlbany and No. 4 Merrimack will meet at 7 p.m. in the second semifinal. The winners will play for the #AEMLAX title on Saturday, May 4 at 3 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Visit Championship Central for complete 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.
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