Bryant's Kevin Massa Earns Third Consecutive NEC Player of the Year Award

Philadelphia, Pa. – Top-seeded and Northeast Men’s Lacrosse Conference Tournament host Saint Joseph’s University took home three of the five major conference awards and placed 8 student-athletes on the all-conference teams, it was revealed Wednesday evening at the NEC Men’s Lacrosse pre-tournament banquet in Philadelphia, Pa. Bryant face-off specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y./Elwood John Glenn) took home an unprecedented third consecutive NEC Player of the Year award while teammate Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md./Saint Paul’s School) won his second consecutive NEC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Saint Joseph’s University sophomore attacker Michael Rastivo (South Setauket, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) was named the NEC Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring and teammate Chris Blewitt (Lincoln Park, N.J./Bergen Catholic) took home the NEC Rookie of the Year award. For the second-straight year Saint Joseph’s University head coach Taylor Wray was voted as coach of the year by his peers after leading the Hawks to a second consecutive NEC regular season title. Under coach Wray, the Hawks have not lost a regular season conference game in the last two years.

The pre-tournament banquet was held on the campus of Saint Joseph’s University and it brought together all four teams – Saint Joseph’s, Hobart, Bryant and Mount St. Mary’s – participating in the 2015 NEC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament for an evening to recognize all-conference accolades.

Massa earned his third consecutive NEC Player of the Year award and fourth consecutive major award in as many years. The master of the faceoff X led the conference with an overall faceoff winning percentage of .650, a mark that currently ranks fifth in the country. The senior also ranks amongst the top three in the nation with 8.60 ground balls per game.

Rastivo built upon a very successful rookie season, leading the Hawks’ offense with 38 goals. The sophomore added 17 assists for a career-high 55 points. The three-time NEC Player of the Week honoree currently leads the league in points per game (3.67) and helped the Hawks to their second consecutive unbeaten record in league play.  The South Setauket, N.J. native also earned a spot on the All-NEC First Team.

Waldt earned his second-straight NEC Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the league with 163 total saves. A four-time NEC Defensive Player of the Week honoree, the junior is currently tied for first in the NEC with a .572 save percentage.

Blewitt is the first Hawk to earn the NEC Rookie of the Year award. The freshman is averaging 1.7 points per game and has helped lead an offense that has scored over 11 goals per game, a mark that leads the NEC. A two-time NEC Rookie of the Week honoree, Blewitt has 26 total points on the season from 16 goals and 10 assists.

Overall, 26 student-athletes were recognized on the All-NEC First and Second Teams.

Bryant’s Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J./Bergen Catholic) makes his first appearance on the All-NEC First Team, finishing the regular season ranked inside the top five in both goals per game (1.87) and points per game (2.73). Joining James on the All-NEC First Team, is teammate Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo./Kent Denver Country Day) who rankes third on the team in goals (15) and fourth in assists (10). 

Fellow Bulldogs Connor Dent (Havertown, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and Kyle Mummau (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) also earned All-NEC First Team honors. Dent ranked second on his team in ground balls during the regular season with 43 and caused a team-high 15 turnovers. Mummau, a 2014 All-Rookie honoree, scooped up 14 ground balls and caused 7 turnovers in regular season play.

Attackman Alex Love (Geneva, N.Y./Salisbury School) is the first-ever Hobart player to earn All-NEC First Team honors. Love heads into the postseason ranked second in the league with 2.20 goals per game.

Robert Morris’ Eric Rankel (Downingtown Pa./Downingtown West) makes his third consecutive appearance on the All-NEC First Team. The junior midfielder finished the season ranked second on the team in goals (22) and assists (12) as well as points (34).

For Sacred Heart, Alex Dodge (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) makes his first appearance on the All-NEC First Team after being named to the All-NEC Second Team last season. Dodge led all Pioneers in both assists (13) and points (30) while finishing second on the team with 17 goals.

Rounding out the All-NEC First Team, Saint Josephs’ Mike Rastivo (South Setauket, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall/Ward Melville) led the league in goals (38) and points (55) during the regular season. Joining Rastivo on the All-NEC First Team are teammates Ryan McGee (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) and John Winchell (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge). McGee, who returns to the All-NEC first team for the second straight year, leads all NEC players in assists (21) and is currently ranked second in the league in points (49). Winchell paces the Hawks with 21 caused turnovers and has picked up 24 ground balls. Long Stick Midfielder Will Farrell (Jamison, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) leads the Hawks with 49 ground balls and caused 17 turnovers in regular season play.   

For the All-NEC Second Team, Bryant attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa./Episcopal Academy) ranks amongst the top-five in the league in both assists per game (1.07) and points per game (2.87). Long stick midfielder Cody O’Donnell (Smithfield, R.I./LaSalle Academy) caused 10 turnovers and picked up 15 ground balls in regular season play for the Bulldogs.

Hobart midfielder Brendan Saylor (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) finished the regular season second on the team with 17 goals and 21 points. Teammate Jackson Brown (Buffalo, N.Y./Bishop Timon St. Jude) earned the All-NEC Second Team goalkeeper spot after leading all netminders in saves per game (12.46). Brown also ranks seventh nationally with a .577 save percentage. 

Robert Morris attack Luke Laszkiewicz (Oshawa, Ontario/Westminster Prep) finished the season averaging 2.14 goals per game, good for third in the NEC. Fellow Colonial James Rahe (Aldergrove, British Columbia/W.J. Mouat) tallied 19 assists in regular season play while averaging 2.57 points per contest.

Sacred Heart’s Chase Godfrey (Glenville, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) picked up 31 ground balls and caused 14 turnovers for the Pioneers. Midfielder Brian Masi (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) led all Pioneers with 21 goals and 27 points.

The Saint Joseph’s Hawks had four players named to the All-NEC Second Team. Pat Swanick (Haverford, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) finished the regular season with 19 goals and 22 total points while picking up 22 ground balls. Midfielder Kevin Forster (Jenkintown, Pa./University of Maryland) currently ranks third on the team in goals (16), assists (16) and points (32). Kevin Barrow (Ladenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) contributed 19 groundballs and caused 11 turnovers for a Hawks team that currently ranks seventh in the country in scoring defense (7.73). Face-off Specialist Mike Lanham (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) finished regular season play ranked fourth in the league with 4.47 ground balls per game while going 148-261 from the faceoff X.

For Wagner, Daniel Valencia (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) earned a spot on the All-NEC Second Team, Valencia ranked second on the team with 29 groundballs and caused a team-high 26 turnovers. The junior defender also currently ranks fifth in the country with 2.00 caused turnovers per game.

Ten players made up the All-NEC Rookie Team this year. 

Bryant had three players earn All-NEC Rookie honors. Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) leads all rookies with 13 assists and has tallied 10 goals for the Bulldogs thus far. Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) finished regular season play with 14 goals and 19 ground balls for the Bulldogs. Chas South (Lincroft, N.J./Taft School) started all 15 games for Bryant in the regular season and has scooped up 35 ground balls while causing 12 turnovers.

Mount St. Marys’ goalkeeper Matt Vierheller (Forest Hill, Md./Georgetown Prep) earned an All-NEC Rookie nod after leading the Mountaineers back to the NEC Tournament. Vierheller finishes the regular season ranked amongst the top five in the NEC in goals against average (8.22), save percentage (.569) and saves per game (10.25).

For Robert Morris, Carter Yepsen (Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount) ranked fourth on the team in both goals (14) and assists (10) good for 24 points on the season.

Sacred Heart’s Julian Garritano (Markham, Ontario/Trinity Pawling) and Mike Calvagna (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) both earned All-NEC Rookie Team accolades. Garritano finished the season with 15 goals and four assists for a total of 19 points. Calvagna ranked third in the NEC in ground balls per game (5.23).

Saint Joseph’s freshman Chris Blewitt (Lincoln Park, N.J./Bergen Catholic) heads into the postseason with 16 goals scored to go along with 10 assists for a total of 26 points.

Rounding out the All-NEC Rookie Team, are a pair Wagner players. Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) led the Seahawks’ scoring attack with 21 goals on the season to go along with 9 assists for a total of 30 points. Billy Orme (Great Falls, Va./Langley) was also a key offensive contributor for the Seahawks as he finished the season with 15 goals and 21 total points.