Five Cavaliers received United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American honors today, including junior attackman Steele Stanwick, junior midfielder Colin Briggs, sophomore midfielder Chris LaPierre, junior attackman Chris Bocklet and senior goalie Adam Ghitelman.
A Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and two-time USILA All-American, Stanwick is the lone player on the first team who is still in the Final Four. He was also named the 2011 ACC Player of the Year and has 183 career points to his name in 94 goals and 89 assists. On the season, he has 29 goals and 35 assists for 64 points.
In his first All-American honor, Briggs was named to the second team. This year he is also a 2011 All-ACC honoree and was named to the ACC All-Tournament team. He has put together four hat tricks so far. On the season, he has 24 goals and 12 assists for 36 points.
Chris LaPierre also received his first All-American nod on the third team. He leads the team with 88 groundballs and has won 16 of 35 faceoffs (.457). He was also a 2011 All-ACC honoree and was previously on the Tewaaraton Trophy watch list earlier this season.
Somehow, Chris Bocklett checks in only with an honorable mention for the second straight year. He leads the team with 41 goals and has scored a goal in 34 straight games, the best active streak in the nation. Since the streak began on February 20, 2010 against Drexel, he has amassed 94 goals. In his career, he has 18 goals in five NCAA starts, and has five hat tricks in just as many starts. He was also previously on the Tewaaraton Trophy watch list.
Receiving an honorable mention, this also marks Ghitelman's second All-American nod after being named to the third team in 2010. He is currently fourth all-time in NCAA history with 48 career goalie wins. He has a 9.81 goals against average and a .532 save percentage. He is No. 2 all-time at Virginia in career saves (567) and leads Virginia's books in career wins (Kip Turner checks in second at 40). Ghitelman was ACC Defensive Player of the Week twice this year, and was previously on the Tewaaraton Trophy watch list.
The Cavaliers will be facing No. 4 Denver in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships this Saturday. Faceoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN3 in HD.