2014 USILA Division III All-American Teams
Endicott All-Americans
PERRY, N.Y. – For the second straight season, the Endicott men's lacrosse team had three of their standout student-athletes placed on the USILA Division III All-American Team as Third Team midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) and Honorable Mention goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) and defenseman Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) received the national recognition.
Cotter, Bell, and Merritt are the 19th, 20th, and 21st USILA All-Americans from the Endicott men's lacrosse program to be honored while Bell and Merritt join former Gull greats Nick Cosco '09, Eddie O'Reilly '09, Eric Hagarty '10, and Sam Ozycz '12 (MBA '13) as the only other two-time All-Americans.
In addition to his athletic accolades, Merritt was honored for his accomplishments in the classroom with USILA Division III Scholar All-American status. To be recognized for this honor, the senior must be nominated by his coach and maintain both a senior year and cumulated grade point average of 3.0 (4.0 scale). He must also be an All-American, a member of a North/South team, or an outstanding league or conference player. He will have behaved in a manner that has brought credit to himself, his institution, and to college lacrosse both on and off the field. Merritt is one of 105 USILA Academic All-America honorees across NCAA Division I, II, and III.
Cotter was named CCC Offensive Player of the Year, All-CCC First Team, and NEILA All-New England First Team in a season in which he accumulated 74 points on 61 goals and 13 assists. Cotter had his most efficient season in terms of shooting percentage, converting 32.4% of his team-high 188 shots into goals. He had five game-winning goals. Ten of his 61 goals came on man-up opportunities with one man-down score. Cotter did his part in maintaining possession for Endicott's dangerous offense with a career-high 57 ground balls as well as causing 10 turnovers.
Harrison Cotter now joins his brother Chris ('11) on the USILA Division III All-American Team. Chris was named to the Honorable Mention Team in his senior season after he posted 37 goals, 24 assists, 61 points, 48 ground balls, and 13 caused turnovers.
In 2014, Bell was named CCC Defensive Player of the Year, All-CCC First Team, and NEILA All-New England First Team after improving upon his freshman year numbers including goals against average (8.28), save percentage (.579), saves (202), minutes (1064:54), and wins (15). Bell started in 19 of Endicott's 20 games this season and had marquee wins over Stevens, Connecticut College, Middlebury, Western New England, Bowdoin, and Keene State in a Gulls NCAA First Round victory. In thirteen of his 20 games played Bell recorded at least 10 saves with a season-high 18 coming in the team's season opening, 15-11 victory over #13 Stevens.
Merritt placed on the All-CCC First Team and NEILA All-New England Second Team after a spring season that saw the senior cause 34 turnovers and collect 58 ground balls. Merritt finishes his three-year career at Endicott ranked second in caused turnovers per game (1.62), third in caused turnovers (86), and fifth in ground balls per game (3.28). This season, Merritt set a single-game high with seven caused turnovers in a 13-5 Endicott victory over Roger Williams. Later in the year, he would nearly tie that same mark with six caused turnovers in an 18-10 win over Bowdoin while setting a new career-high with 10 ground balls.
Cotter, Bell, and Merritt were integral pieces in Endicott's 15-5 season and Second Round appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament in which the Gulls nearly defeated Tufts (L, 9-10). The Jumbos have since gone on to advance into the NCAA Division III Championship which will be played on Sunday against Salisbury.
