STANDISH, Maine – The 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse postseason accolades have been announced and eight Saint Joseph's College standouts have been honored.
Freshman attack Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) headlines the Monks' honorees after earning GNAC Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Conference acclaim. He is joined on the First Team by senior LSM Eli Arsenault (Saco, Maine) while junior attack Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) and freshman defender Kevin Wood (Danvers, Mass.) have claimed Second Team honors.
Senior attack Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine), sophomore SSM Ryan Bogdanski (Southington, Conn.), and sophomore defender Anthony Samiotes (Hampstead, N.H.) are all listed on the Third Team and freshman Matt Denman (Brentwood, N.H.) joins Hopkins on the GNAC All-Rookie Team.
Hopkins becomes the first Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse player to garner Conference Rookie of the Year honors since 2010 after netting 40 goals with 46 points for a total of 86 points in 18 games this spring. The freshman attack shattered the Monks' single-season points record while ranking first in the GNAC in assists, second in points, and 11th in goals.
Spencer Hunt, who was named as the 2010 North Atlantic Conference Co-Rookie of the Year, was the last SJC player to collect top rookie honors.
The second player in program history to claim First Team honors in consecutive seasons, Arsenault tallied 40 ground balls, 29 caused turnovers, and three goals during his senior campaign. In 47 career games, Arsenault has registered nine goals, seven assists, 138 ground balls, and 56 caused turnovers.
Former assistant coach and 2022 SJC Hall of Fame inductee Jonathan Horgan '12, who earned First Team All-GNAC honors in 2011 and 2012, is the only other St. Joe's player to be listed on the top team in back-to-back years.
Goodfellow, a 2022 Third Team honoree, takes home Second Team All-Conference honors after netting 31 goals with 44 assists for 75 total points in just 14 total games during his junior season. The highly skilled attack was on pace to be the first to break the Monks' season points record (76, previously held by Hunt in 2010), but the junior standout suffered a season-ending injury in the team's 16-15 overtime victory over University of Saint Joseph on April 14th. Despite the injury, he finished the year ranked second in the GNAC in assists and fourth in points and currently ranks eighth in NCAA DIII Men's Lacrosse with 3.07 assists per game.
Wood collects Second Team All-Conference accolades after enjoying a successful freshman campaign, during which the 6'2 defender logged 43 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers in 18 games, including 15 starts. Wood routinely was tasked with shutting down the opponent's top offensive threat and proved to be a mainstay for a defense that ranked fourth nationally in caused turnovers per game (14.67).
Michaud claims the first All-Conference honor of his career after netting an SJC single-season record 52 goals with nine assists for 61 points along with 19 ground balls and six caused turnovers while playing in all 18 games this spring. He capped the 2023 season tied for third in the conference in goals scored and finished his career with 87 goals and 28 assists for 115 total points in 47 games.
Bogdanski also collects his first All-GNAC honor after notching 21 ground balls with 17 caused turnovers while playing in all 18 games as a sophomore short stick midfielder. He scored his lone goal of the season in a huge 16-15 conference victory in overtime over University of Saint Joseph on April 14th.
Samiotes earns Third Team All-Conference accolades for the second-consecutive season after pacing the Monks in ground balls (70) and caused turnovers (44) in 16 games – all starts - during his sophomore campaign. He finished the 2023 season ranked fourth in the conference in caused turnovers and ninth in ground balls.
Denman is listed on the 2023 GNAC All-Rookie Team after netting 25 goals with six assists, 30 ground balls, and five caused turnovers in 16 games this spring. The first-year midfielder scored at least two goals in seven different games and hit pay dirt four times in a victory at Southern Maine on March 22nd.
Under the watch of seventh-year Head Coach Bill Cosentino this spring, Saint Joseph's posted a 10-8 overall record with an 8-2 mark in conference play. The Monks secured the #4 seed in the GNAC Tournament and hosted #5 Dean College in a quarterfinal contest on Friday, April 28th. St. Joe's trailed early but tied the game with a third-quarter surge, 9-9, before ultimately suffering a season-ending 15-9 defeat.
After starting the season with an 0-5 record, the Monks proceeded to win 10 of their next 12 games en route to earning the right to host a first-round playoff game for the first time since 2019.
The 2023 team established new program records for goals (249), assists (161), points (410), man-down goals (6), shots on goal (519), and caused turnovers (264) and ranked highly in NCAA DIII in caused turnovers per game (4th, 14.67) and opponent clear percentage (.676).
2023 ALL-GNAC MEN'S LACROSSE TEAMS
