2015 NEILA Preseason All-New England Teams

NEWTON, Mass. – Ten members of the Endicott men's lacrosse team were named Preseason All-New England by the NEILA on Friday afternoon as it was announced by Sports Information Coordinator Craig Kaufman. The 2015 NEILA Preseason All-New England Team honorees are nominated by their own head coaches and voted upon by head coaches within their own division.

Senior captain and midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.), senior defenseman Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.), junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine), and freshman attackman Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) were voted to the NEILA Preseason All-New England First Team. Five additional players earned Second Team recognition including senior attackmen Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) and Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.), senior midfielder Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.), senior long-stick midfielder Will Farfalla (Glen Rock, N.J.), junior defenseman Ben Katzen (Blauvelt, N.Y.), and sophomore face-off specialist Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.).

Cotter, a two-time NEILA First Team midfielder, is coming off a 2014 season that produced a team-high 74 points on 61 goals and 13 assists for NCAA Division III's sixth-best scoring offense. Cotter was awarded CCC Offensive Player of the Year honors before receiving all-region accolades from the NEILA and ECAC and USILA Third Team All-American status.

Endicott's other returning all-american, Honorable Mention goalie Cameron Bell turned in an 8.28 goals against average, a .579 save percentage, and a 15-5 record between the pipes in his sophomore campaign. Bell was a NEILA and ECAC New England First Teamer as well as the CCC's Defensive Player of the Year.

Bannon, who was named Rookie of the Year by CCC, ECAC New England, and NEILA last season, generated 70 points in his freshman by scoring 48 goals and finding his teammates for 22 assists. Knechtle also earned a spot on the NEILA Preseason All-New England First Team after collecting All-CCC Honorable Mention in his junior year. Knechtle's 22 caused turnovers were third-best on the team while he also totaled 32 groundballs.

Endicott's Second Team honorees including a trio of offensive weapons that return for their final seasons in the Blue and Green. Weber (64), Pinciaro (57), and Tordik (49) finished third, fourth, and fifth on the teams points list and were all named to the All-CCC Second Team in 2014. Farfalla and Katzen will be integral pieces in Endicott's defense and transition game plan this spring while Hughes, who ranked seventh in the country in groundballs per game (10.0) while sporting a .624 face-off winning percentage, will be implemental in his team's ability to gain possession and jumpstart the offense.