Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/2/12
Staff Report
Thanks to a brilliant season from junior attackman Tyler Novotny (Spring-Ford) and several other Philly and Pennsylvania graduates, Pittsburgh enjoyed its best season ever as a member of the Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association while earning its first berth in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association championships.
Novotny, a former All-Phillylacrosse.com selection who played one season at St. John’s, had 69 goals and 17 assists this year while being named CCLA Offensive Player of the Year and Second-Team MCLA All-American.
Pitt went 14-3-1 and fell to Michigan State in the CCLA finals. The Panthers fell to UC-Santa Barbara, 13-9, in their first MCLA playoff appearance despite four goals by Novotny. Pitt finished No. 12 in the final NIKE/IL MCLA Rankings.
Also earning First Team All-CCLA honors for Pitt was senior goalie Chris Gorham (Manheim Township), who had a save percentage of .646 and piled up 170 saves. Also, senior midfielder Nick Ruff (Chestnut Hill Academy) was a Third Team CCLA pick.
Pitt Season Highlights:
#12 in the final NIKE/IL MCLA Rankings
CCLA Runner UP
MCLA Tournament Selection #10 Seed (1st in team history)
11 All CCLA selections (4 first team)
Additional Honors include:
CCLA Offensive Player of the Year (Tyler Novotny)
MCLA 2nd Team All American (Tyler Novotny)
Key Wins vs Ranked Teams: Buffalo, Boston College, Northeastern
Philly Players: Nick Ruff (Chestnut Hill 3rd Team/ Captain), Tyler Novotny
(Spring-Ford 1st team/ Captain), Chris Gorham (Manheim 1st Team/Captain),
Burke Bodo (Phoenixville), Sam Kearns (Southern Lehigh), Thomas Pham
(Spring-Ford), Paul Razgaitis (St. Joseph’s Prep)
Germantown Academy freshman goalie Oppenheimer helps Oregon win PNCLL championship
Oregon sophomore goalie Steve Oppenheimer (Germantown Academy) was the backup for the Ducks, who won the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) championship.
Oregon defeated Simon Fraser, 13-6, for the league title and advanced to the MCLA championship where it fell to Chapman, 13-9. Oregon finished No. 8 in the country.
Oppenheimer played in 14 games and posted 47 saves for the Ducks, who went 14-4 overall.
