Philippi and Wooters Claim LaxMagazine.com Player and Rookie of the Year
Coyne's Division III All-Americans
BALTIMORE, Md. – According to LaxMagazine.com writer
Jac Coyne, Stevens Institute of Technology senior midfielder
Nicolas Philippi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) has been named the Division III Player of the Year and Nazareth freshman attack
Luke Wooters (White Plains, NY/Iona Prep) was tabbed the Rookie of the Year.
Philippi concluded his illustrious four-year career (55-17 career record) as one of the most prolific scorers in Stevens' 128-year history. He tallied the fifth-most goals with 133 and ninth-most points with 180. The senior middie became the second Stevens student-athlete in as many seasons to be named First-Team USILA All-America after the best season of his career as a Duck. He also garnered first-team honors in the Empire 8 Conference after a 74-point season on 54 goals and 20 assists. Philippi also took part in the USILA/LAXWORLD North-South All-Star Game on May 24.
He paced the Ducks in goals and points this season en route to a 13-5 campaign which ended in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship. Stevens fell to Tufts University, 14-9, in its third-straight trip that deep into the tournament. In two contests against Tufts this season, Philippi posted seven goals to highlight his efforts against some of the top competition in DIII (27 points in eight games).
Coyne's assessment of Philippi this season is stated as follows: "Philippi was the lead man on the Ducks' powerful first midfield line that, along with Rich Durpas and Harrison Dorne, would have to be considered the best unit in the country this season. Philippi notched at least three points in all but three games this season on his way to a 74-point (54g, 20a) effort. In the eight games that Stevens played against NCAA tournament competition, Philippi had 22 goals and five assists, including a six-goal outburst against Tufts during the regular season. On a lot of other teams, he could have been a 70-goal guy, but Philippi's ability to play within a structure that maximized the potential of a number of players (Dupras and Dorne, specifically) accentuated his value."
For Coyne's decision to choose Philippi as the Player of the Year, he wrote "There was no clear-cut favorite for player of the year as in season's past, but the honor will stay in the midfield for a second consecutive year. Brandon Palladino won the USILA's version of this award, and there's no knocking that pick as he's one of the best around. But if you take Palladino off the Red Devils, does it change anything? Without Philippi, the Ducks probably miss the tourney. If you're into hairsplitting, this argument will sound like one for an MVP as opposed to player of the year, but that's just semantics from my perspective. Philippi brought the most to the table this spring."
Wooters enjoyed a record-breaking campaign in his first season with the Golden Flyers as he amassed a team-best 93 points, including a Nazareth single-season record 64 goals. The E8 Rookie of the Year helped lead the Golden Flyers to an overall record of 15-4, including a 7-0 mark in conference play. Nazareth won the E8 title for the eighth time and gained its 20th NCAA Tournament berth. Wooters was named MVP of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament after scoring seven goals against Ithaca in the championship game.
Coyne's decision for Wooters as Rookie of the Year was described as follows: "The Golden Flyers were sitting at 6-4 at the end of March and looking like a team destined for a short season, but thanks to Wooters, Nazareth advanced all the way to the second round of the tournament. He finished with 64 goals and 29 assists for a 93-point inaugural campaign and was especially impressive in the postseason. In the two Empire 8 tournament victories, Wooters averaged five goals and two assists, including a seven-goal outburst versus Ithaca in the conference title game. He also scored five goals and dished out nine dimes in a pair of NCAA tournament games. In just his first year, he broke the single-season school record for goals."