Coyne's All-Americans: MCLA Division I
by Jac Coyne | LaxMagazine.com | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Do you have to make the MCLA tournament to earn a spot
on Jac Coyne's 12-man All-American team? Usually, but if you put
together a season like Central Florida's David Drehoff, you'll get
the nod. © Larry James |
The MCLA hands out 97 Division I All-America plaques – including 18 on the first team alone and five attackmen on the second team. Seems a bit much, don't you think?
The America I believe in means only the finest players are recognized for their accomplishments during the year, meaning there can be just one squad.
As such, for the second year, I've put together my own All-America team.
It consists of 12 players – I've allowed for the addition of a faceoff middie and LSM in a nod to the specialization of the game – who I think have earned the distinction
The Coyne MCLA Division I All-America Team
Attack – David Drehoff, Senior – Central
Florida
Sometimes deciphering who is an All-American is easy: if
your opponent knows what you are going to do, is only concentrating
on you, and still can't stop you, it's a good bet you'll find your
way onto this page. That's why Drehoff is here.
Drehoff had five double-digit point games, 15 games with at least
four goals and 12 games with at least three assists. More
importantly, with Drehoff leading the way, the Knights earned a bid
to the SELC tourney for the first time and finished 12-2.
Attack – Ted Ferrin, Junior – Brigham
Young
From the start of the season, when he amassed 30 points in the
first four games of the season, Ferrin has been a terror. That
continued throughout the spring and against some of the top teams
in the country – Michigan (3g, 1a), Michigan State (3, 1),
Colorado (3, 2), Chapman (3, 2), Colorado State (2, 3). The
domination continued at the national tournament, with Ferrin
scoring four goals in the national championship game to cinch it
for the Cougars.
Attack – Trevor Yealy, Senior –
Michigan
Yealy managed to score about half as often (49 goals) as he did in
his first three seasons when he amassed 232, but the 2011 campaign
could arguably be the Pittsburgh native's finest. He was able to shed the label of being a system
guy by operating off the crease more and being a
ground ball hose on the faceoff wing. Despite the addition of a
couple of new attackmen and the maturation of others, it was always
Yealy at the point of the Wolverines offense.
Midfield – Andrew Harding, Junior – Brigham
Young
One could easily argue that it was the Cougars' midfield
unit that propelled Brigham Young to the national championship and
Harding was the leader of that group. He had an excellent year in
the scoring column, finishing with 32 goals and 17 assists, but he
always seemed to produce in BYU's big games. Against Chapman (4g,
1a), Colorado State (4g), Simon Fraser (3g), Duluth (1, 1) and
Colorado (1, 1), Harding was there, and he should be back in 2012,
meaning the Cougars will be formidable at midfield once again.
Midfield – Johnny McKnight, Junior –
Texas
The knock on Texas all year was the schedule was weak,
with Florida State being the only notable win. It's a legit beef,
and the Longhorns paid for it with their seed in Denver. Still, the
'Horns finished with just the one loss to Chapman, thanks to the
play of McKnight, who caused all sorts of problems in the midfield
with his both his athletic and shooting ability. It started against
the Seminoles, when he dropped six, and continued for much of the
season (he finished with 25 goals and eight assists).
Midfield – Ryan Westfall, Senior – Arizona
State
Relative to the past few years, this season has been a
weak year for midfielders in the MCLA. With that said, Westfall
maybe the best one the association has ever seen. The numbers were
down a little bit – he had 65 points this year as opposed to
86 points in both 2010 and 2008 – but Westfall may have been
at his finest as he helped transform the Sun Devils from a
dangerous offensive team into a defensive juggernaut. He was not
only the best offensive and transition midfielder in the MCLA, but
this year he was also the best short-stick d-mid. The whole
package.
F/O – Scott Gelston, Senior – Colorado
State
The Rams' schedule is always at the top when it comes to
strength, but that didn't bother Gelston, who posted a 68.8
(172-for-250) save percentage against those teams, helping Colorado
State finish with a 15-3 record and a berth in the national
semifinals. Often times, a FOGO is only as good as his wing
players, and that was certainly true with Gelston, but he did
plenty of the dirty work, leading the Rams in ground balls, as
well.
LSM – Justin Katchis, Senior – Boston
College
Katchis was the best defensive player on Boston College
and in the PCLL – a team and league that is defense-centric
to begin with – so his inclusion here is no surprise. He was
also a solid positional pole who could flip the field in a
heartbeat, and was even a shooting threat once in a while. What
makes Katchis a slam-dunk is his proficiency on faceoffs. Using a
pole, Katchis could control a game, and he single-handedly kept the
Michigan game close for three-quarters by winning 16-of-20
draws.
Defense – Harry Freid, Senior - Michigan
The Michigan offense faltered in the clutch, but the
Wolverine defense was stout all season, including in the national
semifinal loss when UM only allowed seven goals. Freid was the
anchor of that unit, so he gets the spotlight. While prone to
bursts of emotion on the field, his bite was as big as his bark as
Freid was a physical presence on the backline. Much of the success
the Wolverines have had over the past four years on both ends of
the field has been formulaic, but Freid always stood out among a
typically faceless defensive unit.
Defense – Jack Mata, Senior – Florida
State
The Seminoles' style, and the SELC philosophy in general,
does not typically make for fertile fields when it comes to
high-end defensive players, but Mata started to change that
perception last year and delivered this spring. He was excellent in
FSU's upset win over Michigan State in the tournament first round
and proved to be asset all year long as the 'Noles navigated their
way to a 19-2 record.
Defense – Andrew Salcido, Senior –
Chapman
As expected, the Panthers changed from a high-flying
offensive team into a grinding, defense-led squad and Salcido was
the anchor. Playing one of the stiffest schedules in the country,
Chapman allowed double-digits in just five games, and three of
those were against national semifinalists. Thanks to Salcido, the
Panthers managed a stifling D despite a goalie corps consisting of
two frosh and a sophomore.
Goalie – Dylan Westfall, Junior – Arizona
State
The third of the Westfall clan came into his own this
spring, and not coincidentally, the Sun Devils defense emerged as
one of the best in the country. While still prone to outbursts when
things aren't going well, Westfall is a game-changing goalie
when he is running hot. This was never more evident than in the
national semifinals when it was the youngest Westfall who was
clearly the MVP in ASU's stunning triumph over Michigan. Westfall
finished with a 64.7 save percentage (the MCLA's website formula
for goals against average is incorrect, so that stat is not
available).
Player of the Year
Trevor Yealy, Senior – Michigan
During Michigan's loss in the national semifinals, there
was a play that not only showed what kind of lacrosse player Yealy
was, but also how much he diversified his game over his four years
in Ann Arbor. It was in the second half, and a bad turnover had
just sprung an Arizona State midfielder on a transition
opportunity. Yealy, playing attack, took off on a dead sprint at
the Sun Devil player, finally catching him just at the top of the
box at the other end of the field and threw a wrap-check that
de-sticked the ASU player. Yealy snatched the ground ball, sprinted
back down to the other end and calmly reset the Wolverine offense.
It was a blend of speed, athletic ability, grittiness, lacrosse IQ
and leadership in the confines of one play – all traits that
gives Yealy the nod for Player of the Year honors.
Coach of the Year
Matt Schneck – Brigham Young
There is a laundry list of solid Coach of the Year
candidates – ASU's Chris Malone, Buffalo's Ryan Crawford,
Texas' Brian Myers, Michigan State's Dwayne Hicks, etc. – and
I'm not prone to defaulting to the national championship coach, but
there's no getting past Schneck's accomplishments this spring. Just
two years after replacing an MCLA legend, the former BYU football
player restructured the entire program and led it all the way to
the mountaintop. He dared to institute 6 a.m. practices and other
protocols that were light years away from how the program used to
be run, and it paid off. Considering what Schneck has coming back
next year, there's no way he'll be in the spot in 2012, but he's
earned it this spring.
