Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/22/19
From Press Release
The Amherst College men’s lacrosse team landed eight players on the 2019 All-New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) teams and senior attackman Evan Wolf (Lower Merion) was voted NEILA’s Player of the Year, as announced recently by the organization.
This is the second consecutive season an Amherst student-athlete has captured NEILA Player of the Year honors, with Dylan Finazzo ’20 claiming the accolade in 2018.
With a 18-3 overall ledger, seventh-ranked Amherst faces Cabrini on Sunday, May 26 in the 2019 NCAA Championship Title Game. Opening faceoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa. is slated for 4 p.m.
Attackman Wolf, midfielder Matt Solberg ’20, defender Tamer Sullivan ’21 and short stick defender Jimmy McAfee (Germantown Academy) ’20 each repeated as First Team selections, while attackman Colin Minicus ’20 and defender Rod Castro (Radnor) ’20 earned Second Team praise. Midfielder Ethan Kazmierski (St. Augustine Prep) ’21 and long stick midfielder Luke Mallette ’20 round out the Mammoths’ selections with Third Team honors.
Voted on by coaches within their respective divisions, each NEILA All-New England team is comprised of 13 honorees, including three attackers, midfielders and defenders and one goalie, short stick midfielder, face-off specialist and long stick midfielder. In total, 39 student-athletes secured All-New England honors.
The 2018 and 2019 NESCAC Player of the Year, Wolf adds NEILA Player of the Year to his growing list of accolades after landing First Team honors last spring. Leading the Mammoths in goals and points, Wolf has netted 73 scores and added 42 helpers for 115 total points. The only Division III student-athlete to earn a spot on the prestigious Tewaaraton Watch List, the Wynnewood, Pa. native ranks fifth in the nation in points per game (5.65) and 18th in the country in goals per game (3.60).
Earning back-to-back All-League selections, McAfee is once again NEILA’s First Team’s short stick defender after another strong all-around season. Starting all 20 games he has appeared in, the Perrineville, N.J. ranks third on the team in ground balls with 62 and has caused 12 turnovers in addition to potting 10 goals and dishing out seven helpers for 17 points.
Claiming Second Team All-NEILA honors after landing on the Third Team a season ago, Castro has proven to be a formidable power for the Amherst defense during a stellar junior campaign. The driving force behind a Mammoths team that ranks 16th in the country in caused turnovers per game (12.70), Castro has forced a team-leading 37 turnovers in 19 appearances while also posting 44 ground balls as an anchor on the backline.
Appearing in 20 games for Amherst, Kazmierski earns his first All-NEILA honor as a member of the Third Team following a solid all-around sophomore campaign in which he has posted a stat line of 15 ground balls, 19 goals, nine assists and 28 points.
