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Six Marlins earn All-ODAC accolades
FOREST, Va.-- Adam Nycz and Travis Puls have been honored twice by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for their efforts in guiding Virginia Wesleyan College's men's lacrosse team to a winning 2012 season.
Both Marlin seniors were recently named to the ODAC All-Tournament team, a first for the program since 2008. They helped VWC advanced through this year's tournament with a victory at Randolph-Macon College and a loss in the semifinals to eventual champ Lynchburg College.
In addition to the tournament recognition, Nycz (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois) and Puls (Ellicott City, Md./Baltimore Mt. St. Joseph) also earned All-ODAC honors, topping a list of six Marlins to receive honors this season.
Nycz and Puls have been key offensive players for the VWC program for four years, while senior Mike Tibbs (Baltimore, Md./Pasadena Northeast) has been a mainstay defensively. All three Marlin earned their third all-conference recognition and seniors Ry Stanley (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) and Jimmy McGinnis (Berwyn Heights, Md./Washington D.C. Gonzaga) and junior Corey Bauer (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) all defensive standouts, received their first all-conference award.
The six honorees is one of the largest number of Marlins to receive All-ODAC awards and the highest total since eight Marlins were recognized in 2008. Nycz, Puls, and Tibbs become only the fourth, fifth, and sixth VWC men's lacrosse standouts to receive the All-ODAC honor three times.
Nycz, named to the All-ODAC first team this year, was a second team honoree in 2011 and 2010. His first team honor is the first for VWC since 2008, but no surprise since Nycz was one of the top scorers in the league. He finished the season ranked No. 5 in the ODAC in goals per game (2.47), No. 6 in assists per game (1.24), No. 3 in points per game (3.71), and No. 1 in shots per game (9.53).
This season Nycz scored a team-leading 63 points, the sixth best single-season total program history. He exits the program ranked among the best Marlins ever, including No. 1 in shots (478), No. 3 in goals (129) and No. 6 in assists (61), and No. 3 in points (190).
Puls, an All-ODAC second team honoree this year after back-to-back honorable mention accolades, teamed with Nycz to produce a potent 1-2 scoring punch for Virginia Wesleyan for four seasons. Like Nycz, Puls has competed in 64 games for VWC and has posted back-to-back 30+ goal seasons. Puls ranked second this season in scoring for the Marlins with 31 goals and 46 points. He is ranked No. 3 in program history in shots (387), No. 7 in goals (105), No. 13 in assists (40), and No. 9 in points (152).
Better known for his defensive skills, Tibbs also did some scoring for VWC and finished with 15 goals and 17 assists, tying his own career-high with six assists this season. But, his forte was hard-nosed defense, which helped earn him third team All-ODAC honors this year. He received second team honors in 2010 and honorable mention accolades last year.
Tibbs finished 2012 ranked No. 4 for the Marlins in ground balls with 41, which increased his career total to 194. That ranks him No. 10 among VWC's all-time leaders.
Tibbs had plenty of help on the defensive side, particularly from Stanley, an All-ODAC second team honoree, McGinnis, a third-team honoree, and goalie Bauer, who also received third team recognition. Stanley finished the season with 39 ground balls and McGinnis added 19. Bauer protected the goal for 1008 minutes and gave up 147 goals, while recording 204 saves. He ranked No. 5 in the ODAC in saves percentage (.581), No. 10 in goals against average (8.75), and No. 3 in saves per game (12.00).
Virginia Wesleyan finished the season at 10-7, tying the program's second highest victory total.
2012 ALL-ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE TEAMS
ODAC Player of the Year: Joe Lisicky, Jr., Def., Lynchburg
ODAC Coach of the Year: Steve Koudelka, Lynchburg
ODAC Rookie of the Year: Cameron Dabir, Fr., Att., Washington and Lee
ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete: Joe LaSala, Jr., Def., Washington and Lee
ALL-ODAC FIRST TEAM
Attack
Dylan Hoff, Sr., Lynchburg
Jeff Keatin, Sr., Roanoke
Adam Nycz, Sr., Virginia Wesleyan
Tyler Midwinter, Sr., Randolph-Macon
Midfield
Mike Hayden, Jr., Roanoke
Carter Mavromatis, Sr., Hampden-Sydney
Andrew Wilfong, Sr., Lynchburg
Long-Stick
Brayden Gerrie, Jr., Roanoke
Short-Stick
Matt Jernack, Sr., Lynchburg
Defense
Eric DeLong, Sr., Roanoke
Joe LaSala, Jr., Washington and Lee
Joe Lisicky, Jr., Lynchburg
Jon Lombardo, Sr., Lynchburg
Goalkeeper
Franc Cook, Sr., Lynchburg
ALL-ODAC SECOND TEAM
Attack
Michah Keller, Sr., Hampden-Sydney
Richard Lachlan, Jr., Roanoke
Mac Means, Jr., Washington and Lee
Pat Ohrem, Jr., Lynchburg
Midfield
Travis Puls, Sr., Virginia Wesleyan
Tim Rowe, Jr., Randolph-Macon
Max Voumard, Jr., Lynchburg
Long-Stick
Nate Norbo, Sr., Hampden-Sydney
Short-Stick
Jeff Schwartz, Sr., Lynchburg
Defense
Jon Gill, So., Lynchburg
Andrew Pritzlaff, Sr., Hampden-Sydney
Cameron Sheppard, Jr., Hampden-Sydney
Ry Stanley, Sr., Virginia Wesleyan
Goalkeeper
Jason Crawford, Sr., Randolph-Macon
ALL-ODAC THIRD TEAM
Attack
Joe Coretti, Sr., Roanoke
Reid Mayberry, Sr., Roanoke
Scott Meehan, Sr., Washington and Lee
Ben Sauer, Sr., Lynchburg
Midfield
Chase Clausen, So., Guilford
Connor Dubois, Jr., Roanoke
Luke Heinsohn, Jr., Washington and Lee
Long-Stick
Joe Liberto, Jr., Randolph-Macon
Short-Stick
Mike Tibbs, Sr., Virginia Wesleyan
Defense
Ryan Blackwell, Jr., Randolph
Jack Hurley, Sr., Washington and Lee
Jimmy McGinnis, Sr., Virginia Wesleyan
Mike Packo, So., Roanoke
Goalkeeper
Corey Bauer, Jr., Virginia Wesleyan
Mike Hardon, Jr., Roanoke
--AMDG--
