2017 Great Midwest Men's Lacrosse All-Conference Team (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – The first wave of talented young men selected for the 2017 Great Midwest Men’s Lacrosse All-Conference Team was released during the start of the league’s inaugural tournament.
Top seed Mercyhurst, this year’s tournament host in Erie, Pa., is competing along with No. 2 Lake Erie, No. 3 Seton Hill and No. 4 Walsh.
A first and second team was determined by the league’s coaches in the G-MAC’s first year of the sport offering. A total of 36 different student-athletes from seven institutions comprised the exclusive performance list.
Mercyhurst and Seton Hill each had 10 student-athletes make the all-conference team to headline all programs. Lake Erie had eight recipients, while Walsh and Ohio Valley had three total selections. Alderson Broaddus and Davis & Elkins both had one honoree.
In addition, Great Midwest Athletic Conference coaches voted to award an offensive, defensive, specialist, goalkeeper, freshman and coach of the year.
The G-MAC’s first season as a conference sport featured full members Alderson Broaddus, Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley, along with first-year associate members Lake Erie, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill and Walsh.
Earning the prestigious G-MAC Offensive Player of the Year billing was senior attacker Keyan McQueen of Mercyhurst. McQueen was a critical component for the Lakers’ league-best offensive attack with 13 goals and nearly 21 points per contest.
McQueen led all players in points (50) and assists (23) and he was fifth in goals scored (27). He also tied for the league lead in game-winning goals with three. The product of Burlington, Ontario, was a two-time G-MAC Offenisve Player of the Week.
Adding to the program’s hardware with G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year status was Mercyhurst junior defender Greg Weyl. Weyl was a preseason All-American selection and finished with 27 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls, both numbers leading team in the respective categories.
Voted by his peers, Mercyhurst’s Chris Ryan was honored as the G-MAC Coach of the Year. The Lakers went into the tournament with an 11-2 record and went unbeaten through G-MAC play at 6-0. Mercyhurst has also been ranked in the top 10 of the USILA/NIKE Coaches Poll for the entire regular season.
The G-MAC Specialist of the Year award went to Lake Erie’s Bret Swan. Swan led all players in the conference in total ground balls with 86. He averaged 6.14 per contest in 14 games. He also helped the Storm gain possession in 59.9 percent of his faceoff opportunities.
Walsh netminder Dylan Ciolino was named the G-MAC Goalkeeper of the Year. The senior stopper carved out a signature win against No. 10 Lindenwood towards the end of the regular season and the Cavaliers emerged as winners of three straight going into the conference tourney.
Seton Hill rookie Jay Scerbo led the conference in total faceoff percentage at a 60 percent success rate in 252 attempts. Scerbo finished his first year at the college level with three goals and a pair of assists.
The G-MAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship is being conducted on Thursday and Saturday at Mercyhurst’s Tullio Field. The conference will crown its first league champion in the sport following a 1 p.m. Eastern start time on Saturday.
The selection process for the NCAA DII Men’s Lacrosse Championship is determined by the top four teams in the North and South Region rankings. The G-MAC is placed in the South Region for consideration by the regional advisory committee.