Eight Named All-America, three named tops at their positions

Eight Dolphins from the 2006 NCAA Division II National Championship team garnered All-America status from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, with three players named the top player at their position. Matt Cassalia was named the Lt. Donald McLaughlin Jr. Award recipient as the top midfielder; Jared Corcoran earned the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award as the top goalkeeper; and Travis Tarr was named the William C. Schmeisser Award winner as the top defenseman in Division II.

Cassalia, Corcoran and Tarr were joined on the USILA All-America first team by attackman Mike McDonald and defenseman Chris Doran. Midfielder Alex Bily and faceoff specialist Chris Moore were named to the second team. Close defenseman Matt Juriga was named an Honorable Mention All-America.

Cassalia, in his first season with the Dolphins after transferring from Loyola College in Maryland, scored 29 goals and assisted on five for 34 points. He also won 81 of 126 (.643) faceoffs for the Dolphins. Corcoran, the top goalkeeper for the second consecutive season, added to his career with an 18-0 mark, the nation’s top goals against average (3.81) and top save percentage (.665). He is 46-1 with an all-time record 4.25 goals against average in three seasons. Tarr, the top defenseman for the second consecutive year, is the program’s first four-time All-America selection. He has keyed the nation’s top defense each of the last four seasons. In 2006, Le Moyne topped all divisions with a 3.67 goals against average.

McDonald led Le Moyne in scoring for the second consecutive season. The sophomore netted 41 goals and 20 assists for 61 points. In Le Moyne’s two NCAA tournament games, he tallied 11 goals, including four in the 12-5 national championship win over Dowling. Doran, a second-team All-America in 2005, was also named a Scholar All-America selection by the USILA. He collected 41 ground balls for Le Moyne in 2006.

Bily scored 14 goals and assisted on eight for Le Moyne in 2006. Moore, an honorable mention selection in 2005, won 116 of 182 faceoffs (.637) in his senior season. Juriga, making his first appearance on an All-America team, grabbed 44 ground balls – tops among those not taking faceoffs and third overall for Le Moyne.

For the second time in three years, the Le Moyne College men’s lacrosse team won the NCAA Division II national championship with a decisive 12-5 win over Dowling College of Oakdale, N.Y. Sophomore Mike McDonald, who would be named the 2006 NCAA National Championship Most Outstanding Player, scored four goals and assisted on another to lead Le Moyne to the victory.

The championship, played on May 28 in front of a record 23,990 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, capped a perfect season for the Dolphins, who went 18-0 in regular season play. Le Moyne’s senior class closed out its four seasons with a 62-2 record, four NCAA tournament trips and the two national championships.

“This was the most determined group of 18- to 22-year-olds I’ve ever been around,” ninth-year head coach Dan Sheehan said after the game. “We were fortunate this year to have a group that does it on both ends of the field. We were able to send our senior class off the field with two national championships and only two losses in their career.”

Team members joined the Onondaga Community College men’s lacrosse team, which won the National Junior College Athletic Association championship two weeks earlier, for a community tribute on June 4. Onondaga County Executive Nicholas Pirro ’64 and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll participated in the tribute, conducted on the steps of the county courthouse in downtown Syracuse. The team also earned recognition from the New York State Senate, which passed a special resolution, sponsored by Sen. John DeFrancisco, congratulating the players and Sheehan on their successful season and national championship win.

Le Moyne’s vaunted defense won the battle between the nation’s top-ranked defense and the top offense. The Golden Lions came into the championship averaging 15.6 goals per game but were limited to their lowest output of the season. Le Moyne’s close defensemen, Travis Tarr, Matt Juriga and Chris Doran, who were each named to an All-America team for the season, played well in front of senior All-America goalkeeper Jared Corcoran, who made seven of his 12 saves in the second half.

Dowling hopped out to a 2-1 lead in the game’s first four minutes and 32 seconds, but the nation’s top midfielder, Matt Cassalia, answered off the game’s fourth faceoff to tie the score at two. McDonald, who also was named an All-America attackman, scored the final goal of the first quarter and the first goal of the second to give Le Moyne its first two-goal lead, and the lead for good, at 4-2. After Chris Dupignac trimmed it to 4-3 for Dowling, Jason Longo flicked his first goal of the game past Dowling goalkeeper Nick Tracey to give Le Moyne a 5-3 lead at the half.

Sophomore Brian Cost and Cassalia opened the second half scoring for Le Moyne as the Dolphins built a 7-3 edge. Dowling trimmed the lead to 7-4 with just under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, but McDonald answered with his third goal of the game to put Le Moyne up 8-4. Sophomore Mike McLaughlin, McDonald, senior Nate Evans and Longo scored goals over the final 26 minutes to deliver the final 12-5 margin.

Since the 2000 season, the men’s lacrosse program has posted a 100-11 record and made five straight trips to the NCAA tournament. The Dolphins, ranked No. 1 from wire-to-wire in 2006, have won 70 straight Northeast-10 Conference games and 60 consecutive regular season games overall.