May 2, 2006

BEVERLY, MA - After winning their third straight Commonwealth Coast Conference title, the Endicott men's lacrosse team landed six players on the First Team All-Conference, four players on the Second Team All-Conference, and two players on the Honorable Mention All-Conference team.

Senior midfielder Kevin Lally (Derry, NH/Pinkerton) and head coach Sean Quirk set themselves apart from the rest of the conference, earning the conference's Offensive Player of the Year and the Coach of the Year, respectively.

Lally entered the CCC tourney ranked No. 1 in the nation in assists per game (4.05) and fourth in points per game (5.25). Those two stats sit atop the CCC stats as well.

Senior Burt Fahy (Needham, MA/Needham) headed up the six First-Team All-Conference selections. Fahy has compiled 64 goals and 12 assists in 18 games for EC this season. He leads the CCC in goals per game, which ranked seventh in nation and first in the CCC, and eighth in points per game.

Senior midfielder Parker Sowles (Cumberland, ME/Kents Hill), junior defenseman Patrick Gaffney (Worcester, MA/St. John's Shrewsbury), senior defenseman Ryan Fraine (Billerica, MA/Billerica), and senior goalkeeper Ryan Walsh (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) were also CCC First Team All-Conference selections.

The 6-foot-4 Sowles dominated the middle of the field, especially in CCC contests, where he finished 12th in assists per game (1.12) and 19th in points per game (2.25). Sowles was the catalyst for the Gulls' run at the CCC crown, picking up four goals and three assists.

Gaffney, who had 49 ground balls this spring, best exemplified his outstanding play when he went coast-to-coast versus Gordon in the CCC Final to score the title-clinching goal. The goal, Gaffney's first this season, ended a string of four in a row scored by Gordon College.

Fraine was the anchor on defense which only allowed 123 goals all season backboned by Walsh, who finished first in the conference in goals against average, 5.28, and fourth in save percentage, .621. Walsh ranked 25th in the nation in goal against average and 10th in save percentage.

Earning Second Team All-Conference honors for the Gulls were junior Josh Gilbert (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury), freshman Brandon Dube (Danvers, MA/Danvers), freshman Eddie O'Reilly (Beverly, MA/Beverly), and senior Mike Clifford (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug).

Dube collected 21 goals for 46 points in his first collegiate season, while O'Reilly recorded 16 goals and 10 helpers. Clifford, a long-stick midfielder, was second on the team in ground balls with 70 and Gilbert notched 45 goals from his crease attack position.

Honorable Mention All-Conference recipients included junior Dan Ryan (Billerica, MA/Billerica), and junior Rick Hancock (Wading River, NY/Shorham-Wading River).