CHC's Klusaritz & GCU's Saladino Share Inaugural CACC MLAX Player-of-the-Year Award; All-CACC Teams Announced
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (April 25, 2018) -- A pair of standouts Wednesday -- Chestnut Hill College's Dylan Klusaritz and Georgian Court University's Michael Saladino -- were named the 2018 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Lacrosse Player of the Year, as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara. It marked the first time the player-of-the-year award was handed out in the sport of the men's lacrosse in the CACC, as the league is going through its inaugural season in the league in 2018. Voting for the all-conference and major awards was conducted by the league's six head coaches in the sport.
Klusaritz and Saladino were also named to the All-CACC First Team at attack and were joined by several other major award winners, including J.R. Howell (CACC Rookie of the Year; Chestnut Hill), Austin Geissel (CACC Defensive Player of the Year; Georgian Court) and Mickey Hover (CACC Coach of the Year; Georgian Court).
Saladino and Klusaritz rank 1-2 in goal scoring in the CACC, as the former is first with 39 goals and the latter second with 37 markers. Saladino has also assisted on 22 tallies and tops the CACC with 61 points. His assists are also tops in the conference. Saladino has also fired off 95 shots this season for the fourth-highest mark in the CACC. He has scored multiple goals in 12-of-15 games this season, including a season-high six in a 19-10 win over Davis & Elkins back on March 6.
Klusaritz has assisted on 12 goals in addition to his own 37 markers for 49 points. His point total is also second best in the conference, while his helpers are seventh most. He has posted 120 shots with 72 of those going on net, as both totals top the CACC. Klusaritz has scored in all but two games this season, and his season-best is six tallies, which he did twice.
Howell earned the rookie honor after ranking third in the CACC with 16 assists during the regular season. He also pumped in 20 goals (7th in CACC) and produced 36 points, which is the fourth-highest mark in the conference. Howell scored a season-high five goals in a win over UDC on March 27. He was also named to the All-CACC Second Team at attack.
Geissel has been a brick wall in goal all season for GCU and thus was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Year. He went 9-5 during the regular season with a 61.6 save percentage and an 8.73 goals against average. Those two marks were tops in the CACC. Geissel also led the conference in wins and total saves (186). Geissel was not only named the defensive player of the year, but also earned a spot on the all-league first team.
Hover was named the CACC Coach of the Year after guiding Georgian Court to a 9-6 overall record during the regular season, including a perfect 5-0 mark which produced the conference's regular season championship. The Lions also locked up the No. 1 seed in this weekend's CACC Men's Lacrosse Championship in Lakewood, N.J.
The other major honor handed out on Wednesday was the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award, which was presented to Wilmington University for demonstrating outstanding character and sportsmanship throughout its inaugural season playing the sport at the varsity level.
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Klusaritz (Chestnut Hill College)
Michael Saladino (Georgian Court University)
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
J.R. Howell (Chestnut Hill College)
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Austin Geissel (Georgian Court University)
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE COACH OF THE YEAR
Mickey Hover (Georgian Court University)
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Wilmington University
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION
Georgian Court University
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
A Dylan Klusaritz (Chestnut Hill College)
A Frank Nichols Jr. (Post University)
A Michael Saladino (Georgian Court University)
M Jeffrey Galatola (Georgian Court University)
M Joshua Pope (Chestnut Hill College)
M Scott Wilden (Chestnut Hill College)
LSM Troy Longley (Georgian Court University)
D Kyle Leary (Wilmington University)
D Kyle Newman (Chestnut Hill College)
D Kyle Souza (Dominican College)
SP/FO Blake Turner (Chestnut Hill College)
G Austin Geissel (Georgian Court University)
2018 CACC MEN’S LACROSSE ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
A J.R. Howell (Chestnut Hill College)
A Tanner Lee (Georgian Court University)
A Dylan McCleaft (Wilmington University)
M Dominick Parente (Post University)
M Chris Smith (Wilmington University)
M Ryan Wiberly (Dominican College)
LSM Chris Stahl (Post University)
D Michael Adams (Wilmington University)
D Garven Hadden (Georgian Court University)
D Phil Shields (Dominican College)
SP/FO Brendan Heggers (Georgian Court University)
G Noah Given (Wilmington University)
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.