West Babylon, N.Y. - On Saturday morning, the East Coast Conference announced its Men's Lacrosse All-Conference awards. Mercy midfielder Ryan MacSpadyen (Toronto, Ontario) earns the Offensive Player of the Year award while teammate Max Littleton (Mahopac, N.Y.) wins the Defensive Player of the Year honor. Ryan Mello (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) of St. Thomas Aquinas repeats as the Goalkeeper of the Year while LIU Post's Jake Gillis (Calgary, Alberta) is the Rookie of the Year winner.
MacSpadyen, now a four-time All-Conference selection and a three-time First Team pick, was the top scorer in the ECC this season. A three-time ECC Offensive Player of the Week, MacSpadyen finished the regular season with 73 points on 38 goals and 35 assists. Both his goal and assist total were also in the top-five in the conference. His totals also rank him in the top-20 in Division II in points per game (18th - 4.56) and assists per game (16th - 2.19).
Littleton claims the second ECC Defensive Player of the Year honor of his career, after earning a share of the award in 2017. Littleton anchored the top-scoring defense in Division II as the Mavericks allowed a stingy 7.13 goals per game during the regular season. In addition to marking the opposition' top defenders, Littleton also finished second in the league with 28 caused turnovers. He added 35 ground balls on the season, as well.
After sharing the Goalkeeper of the Year award last season, Mello is the sole winner in 2019. Mello made a whopping 231 saves on the season, 74 more than the conference's runner up. His save per game total of 16.5 was tops in the ECC and second in all of Division II. Mello finished second in the nation in save percentage too, after stopping 63.5 percent of the shots he faced.
Gillis had a strong debut season for the Pioneers to win Rookie of the Year laurels. He found the back of the cage 44 times, good for second in the league. He also added 18 assists (seventh in the ECC) to rank third in the conference with 62 points. The six-time ECC weekly honoree (two-time Offensive Player, four-time Rookie) also finds his name on the NCAA Division II leaderboard. He ranked 25th in points per game (4.42), 14th in goals per game (3.14), and fifth in shot percentage after 53.7 percent of his shots found the back of the cage.
Mercy head coach, Jordan Levin, earns the Coach of the Year nod from his peers after the Mavericks compiled a perfect 6-0 record during ECC play for the program's first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship. Levine led the Mavericks to a 15-1 overall record and a ranking as high as No. 3 in the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Top-20 poll.
2019 ECC Men's Lacrosse All-Conference
First Team
A - Bobby Chillianis, Mercy
A - Jake Gillis, LIU Post
A - William Snelders, LIU Post
M - Ryan MacSpadyen, Mercy
M - Tommy McPartland, Mercy
M - Alex Russell, LIU Post
D - Ryan Blume, LIU Post
D - Max Littleton, Mercy
D - PJ Usak, LIU Post
LS - Anthony DeCeglia, Mercy
SSDM - Luke Baron, Mercy
FO - Connor Farrell, LIU Post
GK - Ryan Mello, St. Thomas Aquinas
Second Team
A - Joseph Duchnowski, NYIT
A - Hunter Lemieux, Roberts Wesleyan
A - Dominic Scorcia, Mercy
M - Jack Gibbons, Mercy
M - Mike Kadnar, LIU Post
M - Michael Trainor, NYIT
D - Frank Callan, NYIT
D - Nick DeLuca, NYIT
D - Jack Kipnes, Mercy
LS - Mike Durkin, Molloy
SSDM - Austin Fitzpatrick, NYIT
SSDM - Steven Frank, LIU Post
FO - Sam Schubach, Roberts Wesleyan
GK - Ryan Gibbons, Mercy
Offensive Player of the Year: Ryan MacSpadyen, Sr., M, Mercy
Defensive Player of the Year: Max Littleton, Sr., D, Mercy
Goalkeeper of the Year: Ryan Mello, Sr., St. Thomas Aquinas
Rookie of the Year: Jake Gillis, Fr., A, LIU Post
Coach of the Year: Jordan Levine, Mercy