MANCHESTER, N.H. – Head coach Paul Calkins of the Southern New Hampshire University men's lacrosse team was named the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) 2014 Coach of the Year, while four other players were honored with All-New England Team honors.
Jeremy Buckley (Norwell, Mass.) received first-team honors as an attack, while Rob Murray (Marblehead, Mass.) was named to the midfield first-team. Chris Roach (Boxford, Mass.) earned a spot on the first-team for long stick midfielders, and Richard Nistico (Trumbull, Conn.) was named to the defensive first-team for the Penmen.
Calkins coached the team to its second straight post-season appearance before falling short to Bentley in a first-round game. The Penmen finished the season with a 7-8 record, and closed out regular season play winning five-out-of six games, including the first ever program victory over Bentley by a score of 8-7 at home.
Buckley finished the season with a team-high 41 points, including 34 goals to the lead the offense. The junior also added seven assists, and recorded at least a point in every game for the Penmen. He notched a career-best five points in a win over Saint Rose, and tallied four points on six different occasions.
Murray, a Northeast-10 Conference Second-Team All-Conference selection this season, closed out his final season with SNHU scoring 34 points. He totaled 16 goals and had a team-best 18 assists. Murray also grabbed 27 groundballs, and caused four turnovers. The senior recorded his 100th career point in a win over American International, and had six points in a win over Saint Anselm earlier in the season. Murray was also selected to play in the NEILA East/West All-Star game, the game will take play on May 30 at Springfield College.
Roach manned the Penmen defense, leading the team in groundballs and caused turnovers with 61 and 28, respectively. He had eight groundballs in a win over Pace, and totaled seven on two occasions. He had a season-best four caused turnovers twice this season, once in a loss to Mount Olive, and again in a win against Pace.
Nistico was one of seven players to start and appear in all 15 games this season as a defenseman. The senior recorded 10 groundballs and six caused turnovers. He recorded two groundballs on two separate outings, and recorded at least one in nine games.
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