Messina Voted ECC Player Of The Year; Pioneers Lead With 10 All-Conference Selections
ECC All-Conference Teams
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (May 11, 2011) – Senior midfielder Mike Messina (Sayville, N.Y.) of the C.W. Post men's lacrosse team has been selected the 2011 East Coast Conference Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Messina headlines six First Team selections for the Pioneers as well as three Second Team selections and one Honorable Mention. In all, the Pioneers led the conference with 10 all-conference selections.
Mercy's T.J. DiCarlo was named Goalkeeper of the Year and Chestnut Hill's Mike Melnychenko was voted the Rookie of the Year. Mercy head coach Steve Manitta was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
Messina helped the two-time defending National Champion Pioneers back to the NCAA Tournament and a 16-1 record in the 2011 campaign by tallying 29 goals and seven assists for 36 points. The senior middie was a constant threat offensively, tallying multiple points in 12 games, including six games where he surpassed the three point mark.
Also voted to the First Team was junior attacker
Eddie Plompen (West Islip, N.Y.), junior midfielder
Keith Rodriguez (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.), senior defenders
Dan DaCosta (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and
#Erik Boyd# (Coram, N.Y.), and senior midfielder/face-off specialist
Ronnie Irving (Glen Head, N.Y.).
Senior goalkeeper
Mike Giordano (Farmingdale, N.Y.), senior attacker
Nick Coric (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and junior long stick midfielder
Jason Cranmer (Hicksville, N.Y.) were both selected to the Second Team while senior midfielder
John Wood (Marblehead, Mass.) was named Honorable Mention.
C.W. Post (16-1, 9-1 ECC) qualified for the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and will host No. 3 Mercyhurst in the semifinal round on Saturday, May 21. The winning team will advance to the championship game to play the winner of Limestone/Adelphi on May 29 at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.