T.C. DiBartolo Named NEC Defensive Player of the Year; Tom Gravante Earns NEC Coach of the Year
Emmitsburg, Md. (May 5, 2011)-Senior goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) has been named the Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Tom Gravante has been named NEC Coach of the Year, announced at the NEC Men's Lacrosse banquet on Thursday evening.
The Mountaineers, who won the NEC regular season title, had four players earn First Team All-Conference with two more earning Second Team All-NEC honors and one posting a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
Gravante earns NEC Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season after leading the Mount to the NEC Regular Season title. This year's coach of the year award is the sixth of Gravante's 16-year career at the Mount. He won Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Awards in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2010.
DiBartolo, who holds the Mount St. Mary's all-time save record with 701, has a 10.87 goals against average and a .520 save percentage this year. In NEC games, DiBartolo was outstanding with a league-best 8.53 goals against average and a .571 save percentage. DiBartolo also was named First Team All-NEC in the goal, the second consecutive year he has earned the honor.
In addition to DiBartolo, Brett Schmidt (Great Mills, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) and Andrew Scalley (Arnold, Md./Archbishop Spalding) earned First Team All-NEC honors at attack and Bryant Schmidt (Great Mills, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) First Team All-NEC in the midfield.
Face-off specialist Ben Trapp (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) was named Second Team All-NEC with Cody Lehrer (Baltimore, Md./Dulaney) earning Second Team All-NEC on attack. Kevin Downs (San Rafael, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Brett Schmidt earned First Team All-NEC honors this year after being recognized as Second Team All-NEC last season. Schmidt is tied for the team lead with 42 points (29g, 13a). He had a streak of seven consecutive multiple-goal games for the Mount this season and is a three-time NEC Player of the Week award winner this year.
Scalley, who leads the Mount with 30 goals, also earned First Team All-NEC honors at attack. Scalley has scored at least one point in 30 consecutive games for the Mountaineers. Scalley has scored a goal in 12 of the Mount's 13 games this year and has 10 goals and six assists over the past four games. Scalley was the NEC Rookie of the Year last season.
Bryant Schmidt earns First Team All-NEC honors in the midfield for the second straight year. Schmidt is fourth on the team with 15 goals and 23 points this season. He has six multiple-goal games this year, including each of the past two games.
Trapp earns Second Team All-NEC honors at the specialist position. The senior midfielder has won 59.4 percent of his face-offs this year. Trapp was 21-for-21 in face-offs against Wagner on April 23rd, the tying for the second-best single-game face-off win percentage in NCAA Division I history. Trapp is currently fourth in the nation with 7.08 ground balls per game.
Lehrer, who has 28 goals and nine assists this year, earns Second Team All-NEC at attack after garnering First Team All-NEC last season. Lehrer has six games with three or more goals this year, including six in the Mount's win over Jacksonville. He is tied for 17th all-time in Mount history with 118 career points and is 12th with 91 career goals.
Downs has started 12 of 13 games for the Mount defense this season. He has 12 ground balls and three caused turnovers on the year.
Mount St. Mary's won the NEC regular season title and the right to host this year's NEC Tournament. The Mount will face fourth-seeded Bryant tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at Waldron Family Stadium on campus. Second-seeded Quinnipiac and third-seeded Robert Morris will square off at 4:00 p.m. in the first semifinal game.
The two winners will meet in the NEC Championship game on Sunday, May 8, at 1:00 p.m. at Waldron Family Stadium.