WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced its 2024 Men’s Lacrosse All-Conference Teams and major award winners on Tuesday afternoon. Rivier and the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) each had six selections, the most of any school this year.
Voting was conducted by the league’s 14 men’s lacrosse head coaches following the regular season and did not take postseason play into account.
When it came to major awards, Dean led the way, securing three of them. Diego Alvarez-Segee was the Offensive Player of the Year, Tyler Benedetto was named Faceoff Specialist of the Year, and Manny Alvarez-Segee was recognized as the best newcomer to the conference as Rookie of the Year. Norwich and USJ each had one student-athlete win major awards as the Cadets’ Mason McMahon was voted the Defensive Player of the Year and the Blue Jays’ Trey McCann took home Goalkeeper of the Year honors. His head coach Andrew Fink was named Coach of the Year and Regis earned the Institutional Sportsmanship award.
The full list of All-Conference honorees, the All-Rookie Team, and the representatives on the All-Sportsmanship Team can be viewed below.
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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Diego Alvarez-Segee, Dean Alvarez-Segee was the offensive leader in the conference this year, finishing the regular season at the top of the GNAC leaderboard in points with 91 and goals with 61 with a comfortable gap between him and the second-place finishers. Nationally, Alvarez-Segee’s scoring numbers put him at one of the top-five offensive players in all of Division III statistically. Six of the Dean attacker’s goals came in man-up situations. He scored five or more goals eight times this season and recorded seven or more points five times. He was selected as the GNAC Player of the Week in the weeks ending March 3, March 10, and March 17. |
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DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Mason McMahon, Norwich McMahon was a troublesome presence in the Norwich defense, helping jumpstart the Cadets offense by gaining possession. He finished fourth in the conference in caused turnovers with 39 and also collected 57 ground balls. McMahon was often tasked with marking his opponent’s top producer and served as a stifling presence on the Norwich backline. He had three or mor ground balls 11 times and caused more than three turnovers in a game five times. |
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GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR Trey McCann, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) McCann went 12-3 in goal for the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) during the regular season and went 9-1 in GNAC contests. His win totals led the league with his GNAC-best 8.46 goals-against average helping make that possible. That stat put in him the top-20 in all of NCAA Division III. He also had a.524 save-percentage, placing him fifth on the GNAC leaderboard. McCann had five double-digit save performances during the regular season. |
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FACEOFF SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR Tyler Benedetto, Dean Benedetto was impressive at the X this year for Dean, ranking first in the conference in faceoffs won. He had a 63.4 percent success rate on faceoffs during the regular season. Benedetto was able to turn some of those faceoff wins into points as he scored three goals in regular-season play. He was also in the top-10 in the league in ground balls with 115. |
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ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Manny Alvarez-Segee, Dean Alvarez-Segee was not only one of the top producers among rookies, but among the entire GNAC during his first collegiate season. He scored 39 goals this season, placing him among the league’s top-10 goal scorers. He also had 18 assists, giving him 57 points on the season. The Bulldogs rookie had at least one point in every game he played in this year and scored three or more goals five times. He also had 35 ground balls on the season. Alvarez-Segee’s efforts were honored by the conference three times as he was named Rookie of the Week in the weeks ending March 3, March 17, and April 28. |
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COACH OF THE YEAR Andrew Fink, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) Fink led the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) to a 13-3 regular season and recorded a 5-1 mark in GNAC South Division play. The Blue Jays were the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Championship Tournament. Under Fink’s leadership, USJ was one of the top teams statistically on both offense and defense. It’s 16.10 goals per game in GNAC play led the conference, while also causing a league-best 135 turnovers. In GNAC action, the Blue Jays were second in goals-against averaged at just under 7.5 goals-allowed per game. At the end of the regular-season, USJ was allowing just 6.63 goals per game overall, which ranked them second in all of NCAA Division III in scoring defense. They were also in the top-10 in opponent clear percentage at .700. |
2024 Men's Lacrosse All-GNAC Teams
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
A - Diego Alvarez-Segee, Sr., Dean
A - Michael Ference, Sr. Rivier
A - Henri Pfeifle, Jr., New England College
M - Cole Cloney, So., Emmanuel
M - Nathaniel Girardin, Gr., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
M - Coby Mercier, Sr., Rivier
D - Mike Catuosco, Gr., Johnson & Wales
D - Magnus Leonard, Sr., Lasell
D - Mason McMahon, Sr., Norwich
G - Trey McCann, Sr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
FOM - Tyler Benedetto, Sr., Dean
LSM - Francis Pino, Sr., Lasell
SSDM - Chris Rivera, Sr., Dean
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
A - Tim Goodfellow, Sr., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
A - Ryan Paltauf, Sr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
A - Landon Reyes, Gr., Lasell
M - Christian Decker, Jr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
M - Anthony DeRosa, Sr., Lasell
M - Nick Pestrichello, So., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
D - Connor Bogdanski, Sr., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
D - Robert DelPrete, Sr., Rivier
D - Adam Hailey, Sr., Rivier
G - Sawyer Gagnon, Sr., Rivier
FOM - Mike Catuosco, Gr., Johnson & Wales
LSM - Jackson Kain, So., New England College
SSDM - Garrett Lazor, Jr., University Saint Joseph (Conn.)
ALL-CONFERENCE THIRD TEAM
A - Drew Fleury, So., Norwich
A - Donny McInnis, Jr., Johnson & Wales
A - Xavier Michaud, Sr., Saint Joseph's (Maine)
M - Chris Heitmiller, Jr., Rivier
M - Mitchell McKay, Sr., Norwich
M - Jeremy Tremblay, Fr., Albertus Magnus
D - Kyle Ingram, Sr., Dean
D - Vinny Pusateri, Fr., University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
D - Michael Tardibuono, Sr., Emmanuel
G - Casey Dmochowski, Fr., Elms
FOM - Thomas Muraski, Sr., Norwich
FOM - Nathan Powers, Jr., Anna Maria
LSM - Kyle Marcinko, Jr., Johnson & Wales
SSDM - Jack Donnelly, Fr., Johnson & Wales
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Manny Alvarez-Segee, Dean
Jack Davis, Johnson & Wales
Casey Dmochowski, Elms
Nate Finn, New England College
Jack Jaynes, Regis
Zander Kirk, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Colin LeBaron, Lasell
Jason Martin, Lasell
Cooper Mehlhorn, Emmanuel
Jeremy Tremblay, Albertus Magnus
Matthew Wurszt, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
MAJOR AWARDS
Offensive Player of the Year - Diego Alvarez-Segee, Dean
Defensive Player of the Year - Mason McMahon, Norwich
Goalkeeper of the Year - Trey McCann, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Faceoff Specialist of the Year - Tyler Benedetto, Dean
Rookie of the Year - Manny Alvarez-Segee, Dean
Coach of the Year - Andrew Fink, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Institutional Sportsmanship - Regis
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Matt Bouchard, Albertus Magnus
Carter Hart, Anna Maria
Kyle Pianka, Dean
Brendan Campbell, Elms
Jake Cioffi, Emmanuel
Donny McInnis, Johnson & Wales
Austin Wenzel, Lasell
Dylan Kinsella, Mitchell
Joey Olsen, New England College
Matthew Hannon, Norwich
Owen Harney, Regis
Alan Cozzolino, Rivier
Sean Powers, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Benjamin Bausch, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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