Smithfield, R.I. – Junior Sean Meagher (Chesterfield, Mo. / St. Louis University) of the Robert Morris University men's lacrosse team won a major postseason accolade as he was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Year Wednesday evening at the league's annual banquet held inside the Bello Center on the campus of Bryant University in advance of the upcoming NEC Tournament.
Meagher's honor was the most significant collected by a Colonial Wednesday, but he was far from the only one to be recognized as eight RMU student-athletes picked up hardware on the night, which was voted on by each of the league's head coaches.
Robert Morris' 10 total conference awards and eight student-athletes honored are both the second highest such figures in program history.
In addition to Meagher's award, the first defensive player of the year honor in RMU history, true freshman midfielder Eric Rankel (Philadelphia, Pa. / Downingtown West) also broke new ground for Robert Morris.
Rankel was selected to the All-NEC First Team as a midfielder. In doing so, he becomes the first Colonial freshmen ever to earn a first or second team all-league award.
Earning spots on the All-NEC Second Team for Robert Morris were seniors Jake Hayes (Calgary, Alberta / Central Memorial) and Ben Lewis (Cazenovia, N.Y. / Cazenovia Central) and sophomore Luc Magnan (Pine Falls, Manitoba / The Hill Academy) as each was honored by the league.
Additionally, true freshmen Nicholas Beaudoin (Welland, Ontario / Notre Dame College) and Luke Laszkiewicz (Oshawa, Ontario / Westminster Prep), along with Rankel, were selected to the league's All-Rookie Team.
Meagher has made his impact felt on the defensive end of the field in 2013, especially by causing turnovers of RMU's opponents. Meagher has tallied a single-season school record 28 caused turnovers thus far this season and his 2.15 caused turnovers per game average leads the conference. He is in line to become the first Colonial ever to average more than two caused turnovers per game for an entire season. He also has scooped up a career-high 36 ground balls on the year, which is tied for second on the team. Meagher's play on the defensive half of the field has not only helped RMU lead the nation in caused turnovers per game but also has the Colonials on the verge of breaking their single-season record for goals against average. Meagher has played strong defense throughout the year while only committing three penalties and having six turnovers. Meagher will enter his senior season with a legitimate chance at breaking the program's career record for caused turnovers as his 45 career CT currently rank him third all-time at Robert Morris. Over RMU's five league games, Meagher had 11 caused turnovers and 16 ground balls to help the Colonials to the second seed in the postseason tournament. Meagher, who was also named All-NEC Second Team at long-stick midfielder, added two goals and an assist on the year.
Meagher's Defensive Player of the Year honor gives RMU a major postseason conference honor for the fourth consecutive season. He also becomes the first Colonial to get an all-conference honor as a long-stick midfielder.
Rankel was named as a first-team performer after rewriting RMU rookie records. He is second on the team in points (33) and assists (12) and tied for second in goals (21). In an April 20 game at Sacred Heart, Rankel broke the RMU freshmen records for both goals and points in a season. He ranks among the top 10 overall in the NEC in points per game (2.54) and assists per game (0.92) and is also among the top 100 nationally in both of those categories as well as shooting percentage (33.3). Rankel also ranks third in the NEC in points per game among non-attackman and leads the conference in points per game among true freshmen. Rankel has 10 multi-point games, and at least one point in all but one game, five multi-goal games and three hat tricks for the season. He tied the RMU freshmen record for goals in a game when he found the net five times in a win over UMBC. He has added 17 ground balls and eight caused turnovers on the season while playing in all 13 games. Rankel was honored in the NEC's Rookie of the Week category five times on the season, which set a new RMU record for weekly honors in a season.
Digby picks up his first postseason award after setting career highs in both goals (21) and points (28), both of which ranked among the top three on the team. He ranks eighth in the league with his 36.2 shooting percentage. Digby has really picked up his output in the second half of the season, including in league play. Over the team's past eight games, he has scored 20 goals and tallied 26 points, with both marks leading the team in that span. Digby produced eight consecutive multi-goal games to close the regular season and had at least three points in seven of those eight contests. Within conference play, Digby ranked fifth in the league in goals per game (2.20) and was also among the top 10 in points per game (2.80). Digby, who was named NEC Co-Player of the Week March 18, also has posted 19 ground balls on the year.
Hayes takes home his second consecutive All-NEC accolade and is leading the team in goals for the second straight season. Hayes is actually topping Robert Morris in both goals (25) and points (35) in 2013 as he continues to climb in the Colonial all-time ranks. He is tied for fifth in the league in goals per game (1.92), tied for sixth in points per game (2.69) and sits fourth in the NEC in shooting percentage (41.7). Hayes has not only scored in every game in 2013 but is actually riding a 20-game goal streak, which is the longest such stretch in program history. Hayes, who also has a 28-game point streak, tallied 11 multi-point games this season and eight multi-goal games. He currently sits among the top seven at RMU in both career goals (88) and career points (120).
Lewis moved into rare company with Wednesday's announcement as he claimed a third straight All-NEC honor. In doing so, he becomes just the third Colonial, and the first RMU defenseman ever, to garner a trio of all-league awards in a career. He ranks second on the team with 21 caused turnovers and his 1.91 caused turnovers per game put him second in the NEC and among the top 20 nationally. Earlier this season, he broke the RMU career record for caused turnovers and currently tops the charts with 60. His 21 caused turnovers tie his career high and give him three of the top eight single-season marks in CT at RMU. Lewis has a career-high 31 ground balls thus far in 2013, a mark which leads RMU defenseman. Within conference play, he has averaged 4.20 ground balls per game, ranking fifth in the league, and has 10 caused turnovers in this span.
Magnan built off his freshman season, in which he earned All-Rookie honors, in 2013. He started all 13 games on the defensive end and posted career bests in both ground balls (24) and caused turnovers (19). Magnan is tied for fourth in the league in caused turnovers per game (1.46) and really raised his game within league play as he registered 11 CT in the team's five league contests. His 19 caused turnovers put him in a tie for fifth in the single-season RMU records. He committed only two penalties on the year and also contributed an assist, in the April 20 game at Sacred Heart, for the second straight season.
The 2013 season marks the first time that RMU has had multiple defensemen earn all-conference honors in the same season.
Beaudoin contributed on offense while also seeing significant time taking faceoffs for the Colonials. In playing the final nine games of the season, Beaudoin notched five goals, on 14 shots, and an assist to finish the regular season with six points. He leads the team in both faceoffs won (75) and ground balls (42) and ranks among the top five in the conference in ground balls per game (4.67). The highlight of his rookie season thus far came March 17 against Hobart when he notched three points and won 18-of-31 faceoffs he took on the day.
Laszkiewicz has had a solid offensive season in his rookie year as he ranks among the top five on the team in goals (18), assists (nine) and points (27). He was among the league's overall top 20 in goals per game (1.38), assists per game (0.69), points per game (2.08) and shooting percentage (34.6) and really raised his game in conference play. Laszkiewicz tied for the team lead in points (14) and was second in goals (10) within NEC play. He led all NEC freshmen in goals per game within league action. He had multiple points in eight games on the year, including four NEC contests.
Robert Morris' three selections to the All-Rookie team tie both the program record for honorees on a conference all-rookie team as well as the NEC record for most student-athletes on the All-Rookie team from one school.
Robert Morris earned the second seed in this year's NEC Tournament and will play its semifinal contest against third-seed Quinnipiac Thursday at 4:00 p.m. The tournament champion will claim the league's first automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
