Bratton and Clausen Headline UVa's Eight USILA All-American Selections

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Shamel Bratton and Ken Clausen headline eight Cavaliers who were named to the 2010 USILA All-America team as first-team honorees, as announced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.

Virginia had more first and second-team honorees than any other school and only Syracuse’s total of 10 members of the All-American team exceed UVa’s eight. The ACC had 23 total members on the team, with Duke, Maryland and North Carolina all boasting five selections. Also, UVa’s eight honorees are tops for the program since also earning eight nods during the 2006 national championship season.

For UVa, Clausen earned first-team honors for the third-straight season, becoming the first player in UVa history to be named to the first-team three times. Coupled with his USILA Scholar All-American honor, Clausen is the seventh UVa player in the last five years to earn both honors in the same season, giving Virginia the distinction more than any other program in the nation. The Downington, Pa., native will finish his career as a four-time All-American, including earning honorable mention honors as a freshman. Having a stellar senior season, Clausen is No. 6 nationally with 2.18 caused turnovers per game and is second on the team with 52 ground balls.

Shamel Bratton became the 13th player in program history to earn the honor twice. The Huntington, N.Y., native is tied for third on the team with 23 goals and second with 17 assists. His 68 career goals rank No. 11 all-time among UVa midfielders.

Virginia placed Rhamel Bratton, Brian Carroll and Steele Stanwick on the second-team. The honors are the first All-American nods for Rhamel Bratton and Stanwick, while Carroll earned third-team accolades in 2008 and 2009. Rhamel Bratton has a career-high 22 goals this season, while Carroll is tied with Shamel Bratton with 23 goals and has amassed 91 career scores, placing him No. 2 overall at UVa among midfielders. Stanwick leads the squad with 30 assists to go with 26 goals as the offense’s quarterback.

Goalie Adam Ghitelman was named to the third-team for his first career recognition, while Chris Bocklet and Ryan Nizolek round UVa’s selections on the honorable mention squad.

Ghitelman, the MVP of the ACC Tournament, ranks No. 4 nationally with his 7.88 goals against average, while saving 56.3 percent of shots in between the pipes. Bocklet needs one goal to reach 50 goals, which will make him the first Cavalier to reach that plateau since Doug Knight tallied 56 scores in 1996. Nizolek has 27 ground balls in 14 games played, teaming up with Clausen on a defensive effort that has allowed only Towson to exceed its goals scored average per game.

The Cavaliers return to action on Saturday in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship semifinal round. Top-seeded UVa will face fifth-seeded Duke at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised in HD on ESPN2.