Love, Massa headline 10 All-NEC selections

LOVE, MASSA EARN MAJOR NEC HONORS, BULLDOGS TAKE HOME 10 ALL-CONFERENCE NODS

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant University men's lacrosse senior goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) and rookie faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) garnered major postseason accolades while six Bulldogs were named 2012 First Team All-Northeast Conference selections, as announced Thursday night at the 2012 NEC Tournament Banquet.

Bulldog players make up half of the 12 All-NEC First Team picks, while the Black and Gold represent nearly one-third of the total all-conference selections with a league-best 10 elected onto the three teams. Bryant took home two of the five major awards, with Love tabbed as the 2012 NEC Defensive Player of the Year and Massa picked as this season's NEC Rookie of the Year.

Both also earned all-conference first team nods and are joined on the league's top team by sophomore midfielder and leading goal scorer Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.), junior captain and starting attack Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.), junior Tewaaraton Award semifinalist Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) and junior starting defenseman Glenn Maiorano (Easton, Conn.).

Senior midfielder Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) earned his third-straight all-conference honor with a second-team selection, while a trio of freshmen in Massa, midfielder Brian Schlansker (Glenville, N.Y.) and defenseman Connor Dent (Havertown, Pa.) garnered spots on the 10-man NEC All-Rookie Team.

"With nine players named to 10 all-conference selections – six in the first team, three rookies, two major award winners – I am very, very pleased for all the Bryant Bulldogs who were mentioned tonight," said head coach Mike Pressler. "These are great personal honors and great individual accolades that come as a reward for an outstanding regular season."

The Defensive Player of the Year nod is the first major NEC award for Love, who takes home his third all-conference honor in 2012. Love has been tabbed as the league's defensive player of the week three times this season and ranks fourth nationally in saves per game (11.94). The two-time captain also ranks fourth in save percentage (.608) and sits in the country's top 10 in goals against average (7.68) while leading the league circuit in both categories. Love enters this weekend's NEC Tournament as the active NCAA Division I leader in career saves with 653 and is also the active leader in goalkeeper minutes played throughout all three divisions with nearly 4,000-career minutes between the pipes.

Massa, the winner of eight NEC Rookie of the Week honors, including six straight from March 19 to April 23, is the only freshman named to the first team and the only rookie to garner all-league honors. Bryant's first NEC Rookie of the Year award winner, the New York native leads the conference in both ground balls per game (7.81) and faceoff winning percentage (.628), categories in which he ranks third and fourth in the nation, respectively. Massa scooped up double-digit ground balls in seven of his 16 contests, including a career-high 13 at Albany on March 17, and finished below .500 at the X just three times in a spectacular rookie campaign. Massa added 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) during the regular season and totals 125 ground balls on the year.

As a team, Bryant ranks second in the country in faceoff winning percentage, with Massa having taken all but eight faceoffs on the year. The Bulldogs lead the nation in ground balls per game, averaging a shade under 38 each time out.

Dunster joins Massa as the lone underclassmen to earn first-team honors in a year that has seen the second-year sharpshooter pace the Bulldog offense. The Connecticut product has a team-best 31 goals and is second on the squad in point with 43. Dunster leads the Black and Gold with five man-up tallies in 2012 and ranks sixth in the NEC in goals per game (1.94) and ninth in points per contest (2.69).

McMahon graces the all-conference list for a second-consecutive season in 2012, this time earning first-team honors. The team leader in points with 44, the junior has 21 goals with a team-high 23 helpers on the year, and his 1.44 assists per game are good for fifth in the league. McMahon posted a career-high eight points earlier this season in a win over Mount St. Mary's and has recorded at least one point in 15-of-16 contests in 2012.

The top offensive threat of any longpole in the nation this season, Poli has already been named a 2012 Tewaaraton Award nominee on the back of a 19-goal regular season. The defenseman is fourth on the team in goals scored this season, and his 25 points are good for sixth in the Bulldog ranks. Defensively, he has nine caused turnovers and 40 ground balls on the year.

A stalwart defender and 16-game starter on the backline, Maiorano earns the first postseason accolade of his career after leading the Bulldogs in caused turnovers (30). The junior ranks second in the NEC and 13th in the nation in caused turnovers per game (1.88) and has picked up 54 ground balls heading into the conference tournament.

Weisenberg returns to the all-conference ranks for the third year in 2012, earning a second-team nod on the back of a 28-point, 15-goal season with 16 starts in the midfield. The senior has three man-up scores and one game-winning goal this season with 21 ground balls and a trio of caused turnovers.

Schlansker and Dent complete Bryant's all-conference recipients and join Massa on the NEC All-Rookie Team. Appearing in all 16 games, Schlansker is the Bulldogs' top-scoring freshman, netting eight goals and adding a pair of assists for 10 points on the year. The second-line middie fired 26 shots and tallied two man-up goals while collecting four ground balls. Dent started 13 games on the defensive ranks, registering 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers in 15 games played.

Bryant's 10 all-conference picks in 2012 are the most for the Bulldogs since the Northeast Conference began sponsoring men's lacrosse in 2010. Love is the second Bryant recipient of the NEC Defensive Player of the Year honor in the award's three-year existence, after Matt Murnane won the inaugural honor in 2010. The Black and Gold have now boasted at least one major award winner in each of the league's first three seasons.

The Bulldogs, who sit at 12-4 overall and 4-1 in league play at the conclusion of the regular season, enter the NEC Tournament as the two seed and will face off against third-seeded Quinnipiac in Friday's second semifinal at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa. Start time is slated for 8:30 p.m.