Nine Pioneers Receive Conference Nods; Cerar, Jez Receive Top Honors
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (May 6, 2009)- Senior attacker Greg Cerar (Farmingdale, N.Y.) earned the honor of being named East Coast Conference Player of the Year, while head coach John Jez was picked as ECC Coach of the Year, as voted on by the conference coaches. Cerar, along with eight fellow Pioneers, earned a spot on the ECC All-Conference roster for the 2009 season.
Jez has led the Pioneers to a 13-1 overall record this year, including a perfect 6-0 in conference play to clich the ECC title. His No. 2 nationally-ranked Pioneers have secured a bid to the 2009 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship, which will be their first appearance since 2005.
Graduate student Matt Dimler (Long Valley, N.Y.) along with teammates Bryan Leonard (Yorktown, N.Y.) and Mike Cama (Levittown, N.Y.) were selected First Team. Senior attacker Dave Loftus (Merrick, N.Y.), defenders Jon Kology (West Babylon, N.Y.), Richard Schmidt (Hicksville, N.Y.), and Joe Blount (Inwood, N.Y.), and keeper Daniel Sciulla (Merrick, N.Y.) all garnered Second Team All-Conference honors.
Cerar currently leads the nation with an average 5.43 points per game. Cerar, who was named an All-Conference pick for the fourth consecutive year, leads the Pioneers with 42 goals this year. He has earned seven man-up tallies and dished out 34 assists. Cerar led the ECC with three down goals this season to help his team to a 13-1 record.
Loftus and Dimler rank second and third on the Pioneers' squad, respectively. Loftus has tallied 41 goals and 12 assists, while Dimler has added an additional 27 goals and seven assists of his own to propel C.W. Post past its opponents. Cama, the Pioneers' face-off specialist, has earned a .696 face-off percentage, while scooping up a team high 148 ground balls.
Kology has nabbed 28 ground balls and caused 16 turnovers for C.W. Post. Fellow defender Blount has tallied 25 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers while Schmidt has contributed 26 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers, and two assists.
Sciulla has earned a 12-1 record between the pipes for C.W. Post, making 132 saves and earning a save percentage of .644. He has grabbed 20 groundballs and caused three turnovers while in net.
The Pioneers take the field again May 16th, as they host Limestone College in the Division II Men's Lacrosse semifinal round at 12 p.m. on Hickox Field.