Inside Lacrosse Names Preseason All-Americans

1/7/2015 10:03:39 AM

Inside Lacrosse D-III Preseason Second Team All-America

Inside Lacrosse D-III Preseason Honorable Mention All-America

Six Empire 8 men's lacrosse student athletes have been named a D-III preseason All-America by Inside Lacrosse. 

Nazareth face-off specialist Drew Simoneau and Ithaca defender Eli Gobrecht represent the E8 on the second team, while Nazareth's Troy Haefele and Luke Wooters, Stevens Institute of Technology Tim Fair and Ithaca's Scott Sidnam were selected honorable mention. 

Simoneau, a 2014 third-team All-American, was masterful for the Golden Flyers as a face-off specialist in 2014 as he led all of Division III with 12.78 ground balls per game. He also ranked among the national leaders in face-off percentage, winning 277 of 408 draws for 67.9 percent. In addition, he scored eight goals and added two assists.

Gobrecht, an honorable mention All-America in 2014, anchored the Bomber defense. He has a team-best 35 caused turnovers in 20 starts and scooped up 52 ground balls.

Haefele finished second on the team in scoring with 57 points on 38 goals and 19 assists. He also ranked a distant second to Simoneau with 41 ground balls. He has 86 career goals after two seasons.

Wooters led the Golden Flyers in scoring for the second year in a row despite missing five games with an ankle injury. He had 58 points on 27 goals and 31 assists and now has 91 career goals after just two seasons.

Fair started all 16 games as a defender. He scored two goals and ranked third on the squad with 42 groundballs, while his 28 caused turnovers ranked first.

Sidnam, the MVP of the 2014 Empire 8 Championship, was selected the E8 goalie of the week three times. He made 185 saves in 1063:56 in goal. With a goals-against average of 8.29, Sidnam recorded a save percentage of 55.7 and collected 16 ground balls over the course of 20 starts. He had eight double-digit save performances during the 2014 season.