Steele Stanwick Named 2011 ACC Player of the Year

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia junior attackman Steele Stanwick has been named the 2011 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year, as announced Thursday by the league office. Joining Stanwick on the All-ACC team are junior midfielder Colin Briggs and sophomore midfielder Chris LaPierre, both first-time honorees.

Stanwick becomes the first UVa player to garner ACC Player of the Year honors since Chris Rotelli took home the hardware in 2003, capping a period when Virginia boasted five of the league’s players of the year over a seven-season span. Stanwick, the 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year, becomes the second Cavalier in program history to win the league’s player and freshman of the year accolades in their careers. Michael Watson is the other, winning the freshman honor in 1994 and capping his career as the player of the year in 1997.

Stanwick is now a two-time All-ACC performer after being named to the team in 2010. The Baltimore, Md., native ranks No. 5 nationally with 1.91 assists per game and No. 7 with 2.09 goals per game and has tallied two game-winning overtime goals this season (Stony Brook and North Carolina) to help the nation’s top scoring offense (13.0 goals per game).

Briggs, a Narragansett, R.I., native, has been a stellar offensive performer for the Cavaliers. His career-high five points on three goals against North Carolina secured him his first career ACC Player of the Week nod. Briggs is third on the team with 20 goals and has assisted seven scores for 27 points.

LaPierre, a Medford, N.J., native, has been the ‘jack of all trades’ for the Cavaliers and ranks No. 14 nationally with 5.83 ground balls per game. LaPierre has seen time on the second midfield, faceoff midfield, as a defensive midfielder and as a faceoff specialist. A one-man clear, LaPierre has 70 ground balls on the season. It took him only 11 games to pass Adam Ghitelman’s 2010 team-best mark of 62 ground balls in 18 games.

Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC’s Coach of the Year and North Carolina’s Nicky Galasso took home the ACC Freshman of the Year hardware.

Virginia returns to action on Friday in the ACC Tournament. The No. 4 seed Cavaliers (8-4, 1-2 ACC) will face the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils (10-4, 3-0 ACC) in the semifinal round. Faceoff is slated for 7:30 p.m., inside Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. The game can be viewed via webstream on the ACC Network on theACC.com.

2011 All-ACC Honors
CJ Costabile Junior Midfield Duke
Jordan Wolf Freshman Attack Duke
Brett Schmidt Senior Defense Maryland
Niko Amato Freshman Goalkeeper Maryland
Joe Cummings Junior Midfield Maryland
Billy Bitter Senior Attack North Carolina
Nicky Galasso Freshman Attack North Carolina
Ryan Flanagan Senior Defense North Carolina
Steele Stanwick Junior Attack Virginia
Colin Briggs Junior Midfield Virginia
Chris LaPierre Sophomore Midfield Virginia

Player of the Year Steele Stanwick Virginia
Freshman of the Year Nicky Galasso North Carolina
Coach of the Year John Danowski Duke