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Somerset, NJ -- Junior midfielder Max Tuttle (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View) has made Sacred Heart history.
 
The nation’s third-leading goal scorer became the first SHU Pioneer to win either the Northeast Conference Player award or the NEC Offensive Player of the Year honor. Tuttle, who leads the circuit in scoring, won both at the league’s annual pre-tournament banquet on Wednesday evening in Philadelphia. 
 
Robert Morris senior defenseman Zachary Bryant (Oshawa, Ontario/Monsignor John Pereyma) earned the NEC Defensive Player of the Year accolade and Bryant freshman attackman Marc O’Rourke (Hingham, MA/Hingham) garnered NEC Rookie of the Year honors. 
 
Reclaiming an honor that he had earned on three prior occasions, Saint Joseph’s head coach Taylor Wray won the vote for the NEC Coach of the Year award.  Under his guidance, SJU enters the postseason on a 10-game win streak that includes a perfect 6-0 record against conference foes.
 
The banquet was held on the campus of tournament host Saint Joseph’s, bringing together the four conference rivals that are poised for battle in the 2018 NEC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. In addition to the names of the five major awards winners, the league unveiled two all-conference teams and an all-rookie squad. All honorees were determined by a vote of the conference’s head coaches.
 
Robert Morris and NEC regular season champion Saint Joseph’s each placed a league-high nine student-athletes on the All-NEC and All-Rookie Teams.
 
Tuttle leads the NEC with 44 goals and 62 points while ranking third nationally in goals per game average (3.14).  He is only eight points shy of the Conference's current point leader, former Bryant attackman Tucker James, who set the record with 70 points in 2016.  The first team selection is Tuttle’s second, as he also collected the honor as a sophomore.  
 
Zach Bryant became RMU’s second-ever NEC Defensive Player of the Year honoree after leading a unit that allowed the seventh-fewest goals per game nationally (7.93).  Additionally, his 2.43 caused turnovers per game top the NEC and are third most in the entire NCAA.  The Ontario native has moved up to No. 2 on the Colonials’ all-time career caused turnovers list with 74. 
 
O’Rourke burst onto the scene with five points in his first collegiate contest and has only gained momentum from there, totaling 30 goals and 15 assists during the regular season.  He opened up conference play with 11 goals in two games to collect Player & Rookie of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks.  He earned the conference weekly rookie award thrice this spring. 
 
Wray’s fourth Coach of the Year award in five seasons comes following a perfect run through the NEC schedule.  The Hawks have benefited from a balanced unit this spring. They own the NEC’s best defense in terms of goals-against average (7.85), ranking sixth amongst national leaders in that category. On the offensive end, they average double-digit goal totals.  SJU also commits the fewest turnovers in the NEC (11.46/g).
 
NEC-toids
 
RMU’s Alex Heger (Carmel, IN/Carmel) was voted as the NEC’s top goaltender after accumulating a .598 save percentage, which ranks No. 4 in the nation.  He joins Zach Bryant (Oshawa, Ontario/Monsignor John Pereyma), Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School) and Zac Christianson (Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont Secondary) as the four Colonials on the first team.  This is the second first team appearance for Gibson, Heger and Bryant while Christianson takes home his first. 
 
Bryant tied Robert Morris for the most first team selections with four - O’Rourke, Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale), Kenny Massa (Huntington, NY/Elwood John Glenn) and Anthony Johnson (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Prep).  Kennedy adds his accolade to his closet full of them with an All-Rookie, All-second team and now two first team awards.  Massa returns to the first team for a second consecutive year to give the Massa family a total of six combined. 
 
SJU’s Chris Blewitt (Lincoln Park, NJ/Bergen Catholic) garnered first team honors after a season where he totaled 22 goals and 21 assists. He adds a second first team nod to a resume that also includes a NEC Rookie of the Year award.  Kyle Cain (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) and Austin Smith (Olney, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) joined Blewitt as the three Hawks returning to the All-NEC first team.
 
SHU’s Joe Saggese (Saint James, NY/Smithtown East (Drexel)) joined Tuttle in tearing through opposing defenses and landed on the first team as a result.  Saggese finished the regular season with 39 goals and 20 assists, as both he and his fellow classmate rank first and second, respectively, amongst the NEC goals leaders.    
 
Mike Adler (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas) received a second team nod for Saint Joseph’s after finishing the regular season with a .606 save percentage and an average of 12.17 saves per game - good for No. 2 and No. 6 in the nation, respectively. 
 
All of the NEC’s student athletes that were recently drafted into the MLL – Kennedy, Johnson, Massa and Bryant – were all granted first team All Conference. 
 
All members of the All-NEC first team are from the four qualifying teams in the NEC Tournament. 
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 37th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.
 

2018 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Award Winners

Player of the Year
Max Tuttle                  Sacred Heart           MF   Jr.   Castle Rock, CO/Castle View
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Max Tuttle                  Sacred Heart           MF   Jr.   Castle Rock, CO/Castle View
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Zachary Bryant              Robert Morris          D    Sr.   Oshawa, Ontario/Monsignor John Pereyma

Rookie of the Year
Marc O’Rourke               Bryant                 A    Fr.   Hingham, MA/Hingham
 
Coach of the Year
Taylor Wray                 Saint Joseph's          
 
2018 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse First Team All-Conference
 
Name                        School                Pos   Yr    Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Chris Blewitt               Saint Joseph’s        A     Sr.   Lincoln Park, NJ/Bergen Catholic
Marc O’Rourke               Bryant                A     Fr.   Hingham, MA/Hingham
Joe Saggese                 Sacred Heart          A     R-Jr. Saint James, NY/Smithtown East (Drexel)
Kyle Cain                   Saint Joseph’s        MF    Sr.   Wantagh, NY/Wantagh
Tyson Gibson                Robert Morris         MF    Jr.   Maple, Ontario/St. Michael’s College School
Tom Kennedy                 Bryant                MF    Sr.   Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale
Max Tuttle                  Sacred Heart          MF    Jr.   Castle Rock, CO/Castle View
Zachary Bryant              Robert Morris         D     Sr.   Oshawa, Ontario/Monsignor John Pereyma
Zac Christianson            Robert Morris         D     Sr.   Victoria, British Columbia/Claremont Secondary
Anthony Johnson             Bryant                D     Sr.   Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Prep
Austin Smith                Saint Joseph’s        LSM   Sr.   Olney, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel
Kenny Massa                 Bryant                FOS   Gr.   Huntington, NY/Elwood John Glenn
Alex Heger                  Robert Morris         GK    Jr.   Carmel, IN/Carmel

2018 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse Second Team All-Conference
 
Name                        School                Pos   Yr    Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Jimmy Perkins               Robert Morris         A     R-Jr. Pittsburgh, PA/Quaker Valley
Mike Rastivo                Saint Joseph’s        A     Gr.   South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville (Choate Rosemary Hall (CT))
Matt Schmidt                Robert Morris         A     R-Jr. Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East
Ryan Archer                 Hobart                MF    Fr.   Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt
Hayes McGinley              Saint Joseph’s        MF    Sr.   Bentleyville, OH/University School (Syracuse)
Ryan Smith                  Robert Morris         MF    So.   Burlington, Ontario/Nelson
Trevor Weingarten           Bryant                MF    So.   Allendale, NJ/Bergen Catholic
Matt Caracappa              Sacred Heart          D     Sr.   Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa
Zach Coffey                 Bryant                D     So.   West Newbury, MA/The Governor’s Academy
Chas South                  Bryant                D     Gr.   Ridgefield, CT/Taft School
Jack Toomb                  Robert Morris         LSM   Jr.   Cincinnati, OH/Archbishop Moeller
Matt Pedicine               Hobart                FOS   Jr.   Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson
Mike Adler                  Saint Joseph’s        GK    R-Fr. Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas
 
2018 Northeast Conference Men’s Lacrosse All-Rookie Team
 
Name                        School                Pos   Yr    Hometown/High School (Previous School)
Mike Adler                  Saint Joseph’s        GK    R-Fr. Fort Lauderdale, FL/Saint Thomas Aquinas
Ryan Archer                 Hobart                A     Fr.   Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt
Shane Fable                 Saint Joseph’s        A     Fr.   Old Tappan, NJ/Bergen Catholic
Henry Berg                  Mount St. Mary’s      MF    Fr.   Berwyn, PA/Conestoga
Corson Kealey               Robert Morris         A     Fr.   Ottawa, Ontario/Everest Academy
Logan Liljeberg             Sacred Heart          A     Fr.   Wrentham, MA/LaSalle Academy (RI)
Bryan McIntosh              Mount St. Mary’s      MF    Fr.   Jamison, PA/Central Bucks East
Marc O’Rourke               Bryant                A     Fr.   Hingham, MA/Hingham
Sam Stephan                 Mount St. Mary’s      FOS   Fr.   Millstone, NJ/Notre Dame 
Nick Vernacchio             Saint Joseph’s        MF    R-Fr. Dresher, PA/Upper Dublin