STANDISH, Maine – The New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Academic All-New England accolades have been announced and eight Saint Joseph's College players have been honored.
Eli Arsenault (Saco, Maine), Connor Bogdanski (Southington, Conn.), Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine), Max Lacy (Salisbury, N.H.), Sonny Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.), Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine), Ethan Richard (Litchfield, Maine), and Noah Tierney-Honan (Dracut, Mass.) have claimed the high academic award.
Nominees for the NEILA Academic award must have senior or graduate student standing, a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale and be a significant enough player who was nominated for at least All-Conference selection.
Arsenault, a History/Secondary Education major, is a two-time First Team All-Conference honoree who tallied 40 ground balls, 29 caused turnovers, and three goals during his senior campaign. In 47 career games, the senior LSM registered nine goals, seven assists, 138 ground balls, and 56 caused turnovers.
A Biology/Pre-Med major, Bogdanski logged 28 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers as a senior defender this season and capped his career with 55 ground balls and 43 caused turnovers in 36 college contests.
Gilbert, a Business & Sports Management major, posted a 9-5 record, a 10.83 goals-against average, and a 51.5% save percentage as the Monks' starting goalkeeper this season. He finished his career with a 12-17 record, an 11.37 GAA, and a 51.4% save percentage over 39 games.
Lacy, a Business & Sports Management major, scored 25 goals with nine assists and 19 ground balls as a senior attack this season. In 46 career games, Lacy netted 81 goals with 35 assists for 116 total points while picking up 80 ground balls.
Marquis, a senior LSM who majored in Business Management & Marketing at St. Joe's, played in 44 games with 46 ground balls and 33 caused turnovers during his collegiate career.
Michaud, a Business & Sports Management major, netted an SJC single-season record 52 goals with nine assists this spring. The 2023 Third Team All-Conference attack finished his career with 87 goals and 28 assists for 115 total points in 47 games.
Richard, who triple majored in Finance, Marketing, and International Business, tallied two assists, 15 ground balls, four caused turnovers, and nine face-off wins in 26 attempts while appearing in 20 games during his college career. The senior midfielder missed the entire 2022 season with an injury.
An Accounting major, Tierney-Honan scored 34 goals with 15 assists and 28 ground balls in 34 games at Saint Joseph's. The senior midfielder transferred to SJC prior to the start of his junior year.
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).
