5/7/2008
SUNY Cortland senior attackman Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) has been selected as the 2008 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and was named the inaugural Graph-Tex Division III New York State Offensive Player of the Year. Senior defenseman Nick Bueti (Holbrook/Sachem) was named the New York State Defensive Player of the Year. Heath and Bueti are also two of 11 Cortland players on the SUNYAC all-conference team, including nine first-team selections. Second-year head coach Steve Beville received the league’s Coach of the Year honor after leading the Red Dragons to a perfect 7-0 conference mark and the tournament title.
Joining Heath and Bueti on the conference first team are senior attackman Billy Fuchs (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun), senior midfielder Adam Hyde (West Seneca/West Seneca East), junior midfielder Joey Morgan (Putnam Valley), senior face-off specialist Josh Cittadino (Baldwin), senior defensive midfielder Greg Steward (Elmont/Sewanhaka), junior defenseman Luke Lemon (Colorado Springs, CO/Air Academy) and junior goalkeeper Mike Robinson (Alexandria, VA/Thomas Edison).
Senior attackman Kyle Simensky (Locust Valley) and junior defenseman Kevin Mitchell (Vienna, VA/Oakton) were chosen to the All-SUNYAC second team. Hyde and Cittadino were also first team All-New York State selections, while Fuchs, Lemon and Robinson earned second team honors.
Heath is the Division III national leader with 91 total points (48 goals, 43 assists) and ranks fifth nationally with 2.7 assists per game. He’s the first player in school history to reach the 80-point mark twice and is four points away from the school single-season record of 95 points. Heath ranks fifth in school history with 222 career points (127 goals, 95 assists) in just three seasons at Cortland after transferring from Division I Sacred Heart University.
Fuchs leads the Red Dragons with 51 goals this season and is second with 78 total points. He ranks seventh nationally with 4.9 points per game. Also a transfer from Sacred Heart, where he played for two seasons, Fuchs became the 17th player at Cortland to reach the career 100-goal mark (101 in two seasons) and is only the second player in school history to score at least 50 goals in a season twice.
Hyde is fourth on the squad in points (36) and goals (22) and needs five goals to reach 100 for his career. Morgan has 27 points on 17 goals and 10 assists this season, while Cittadino ranks third nationally in faceoff percentage at 68.9 percent (175-of-254) and is fifth on the team with 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists).
Steward has recorded 44 ground balls this season, third best on the team and has chipped in with a goal and an assist. Lemon has 28 ground balls and one goal and one assist, as well. Robinson has started 13 games and has a 5.91 goals against average, a 59.6 save percentage and a 13-1 record. Simensky is third on the team with 46 points and 35 goals, and Mitchell has collected 28 ground balls and one assist on the season.
Cortland, 15-1, hosts either Springfield College (Mass.) or Kean University (N.J.) in an NCAA second round game on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Red Dragons are making their eighth straight national tournament appearance.