Men's Lacrosse

Four Different Programs Claim #AEMLAX Major Awards as All-Conference Honors are Released

BOSTON – The 2025 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship begins on Thursday at Bryant and the Bulldogs were one of four programs to capture at least one #AEMLAX major award. The major awards were announced on Wednesday afternoon, along with All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic honors.

UAlbany’s Max Neeson became the third straight Great Dane to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors while teammate Silas Richmond took home Offensive Player of the Year recognition. Bryant’s Zac Amed was honored as the Rookie of the Year, while co-regular season champion UMBC has a pair of major awards. Connor McMahon was selected as the Goalkeeper of the Year while Ryan Moran earned Coach of the Year. Vermont’s Henry Doge was named Face-Off Specialist of the Year.

The 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.
 
2025 #AEMLAX Major Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year
Silas Richmond, UAlbany - Jr., Attack
  • Leads the league in points (73) and assists (40).
  • Ranked 7th nationally in apg (2.67) and 8th in ppg (4.87).
  • First Great Dane since 2019 win the award.
  • Selected First-Team All-Conference for a second straight season.
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Max Neeson, UAlbany - Jr., Defense
  • Third in the league with 21 caused turnovers and also has 39 ground balls.
  • Anchored a defense which ranked second in GAA (10.4) in league play and didn’t allow over 12 goals in any conference contest.
  • Third straight Great Dane to win this award.
  • Named First-Team All-Conference for the first time.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Connor McMahon, UMBC – Sr., Goalkeeper
  • Led the league in save percentage (.528) and GAA (8.91) in conference play.
  • Ranked 20th nationally in GAA (9.67).
  • Helped UMBC clinch a share of its first regular season title since 2021.
  • Named First-Team All-Conference for the first time.
 
Rookie of the Year
Zac Amend, Bryant – Fr., Attack
  • Led all freshmen with 22 goals and ranked 6th in the league.
  • Added eight assists for 30 total points.
  • Helped Bryant clinch a share of its first-ever regular season title.
  • Named Second-Team All-Conference.
 
Face-Off Specialist of the Year
Henry Dodge, Vermont – Jr., Face-Off
  • Leads the nation in face-off percentage (71.3%) and ranks 4th nationally with 8.50 ground balls per game.
  • Finished regular season by winning 20-of-22 face-offs against Binghamton.
  • Unanimous selection for the award.
  • Recognized as First-Team All-Conference.
 
Coach of the Year
Ryan Moran, UMBC
  • Led UMBC to a 7-4 record and 5-1 mark in conference play.
  • Helped UMBC clinch a share of its first regular season title since 2021.
  • Earned his second Coach of the Year honor (2021).
  • Assisted by Craig Chick, Nick Griffin and Luke Shilling.
 
In addition to the major awards, two All-Conference teams were also recognized. UAlbany led the way with four first-team selections and seven overall. Bryant and UMBC each had five total All-Conference honors while Binghamton had three on the first team.

 
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Many of the award winners will be in action at the 2025 #AEMLAX Championship starting tomorrow at Bryant’s Beirne Stadium. No. 2 UMBC and No. 3 UAlbany will square off in the first semifinal on Thursday at 4 p.m. while No. 1 Bryant and No. 4 Binghamton will meet at 7 p.m. in the second semifinal. The winners will play for the #AEMLAX title on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. on ESPN+

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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