April 27, 2010
EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette men's lacrosse head coach Terry Mangan and senior co-captain Steve Serling have been named Patriot League Coach of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, the league announced this morning.
Lafayette also had two student-athletes recognized to the All-League teams. Junior attack Tom Perini was named to the First Team for the first time in his career, while senior midfielder Kevin Dunbar was named to the Second Team.
In his eighth season at the helm, this is the first time Mangan has been named Coach of the Year.
Mangan led the Leopards to eight regular season wins, the most since 1984. In a season of firsts, he guided Lafayette to its first-ever national ranking (eight consecutive weeks) and the program's first wins over nationally-ranked opponents (Navy and Bucknell).
He also coached the Leopards to their first win in school history over Navy on March 12.
Serling bounced back from a 2009 injury that sidelined him the entire season to capture the Offensive Player of the Year nod. He also earns a spot on the All-League First-Team.
He leads the Leopards in points (47), goals (36) and is fourth on the team in assists (11). He is currently seventh in the country in goals per game (2.77) and first in the Patriot League. Serling is second in the league in points per game (3.62).
Serling was honored as Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week twice during the 2010 season (Feb. 23 and April 12). He had a career-high eight points against Fairfield on February 20 and a season-high five goals against Holy Cross and Mount St. Mary's.
He is six points shy of 100 for his career going into Friday night's semifinal contest vs. Navy.
Perini is second on the squad with 30 goals. He was the 2008 Patriot League Rookie of the Year. This is the first time Dunbar has garnered All-League recognition. He is second on the team in assists (17).
Other major awards handed out by the league included: Bill Henderson (Army), Defensive Player of the Year; RJ Wickham (Navy), Goalkeeper of the Year; and Garrett Thul (Army), Rookie of the Year.
The third-seeded Leopards are in the midst of preparing for its semifinal game against second-seeded Navy on Friday night in West Point, N.Y. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. or 45 minutes after the conclusion No. 1 Army vs. No. 4 Bucknell contest.
NOTES:
Tickets to Friday's semifinal games are six dollars for adults and four for students. Lafayette students receive free admission with a valid Lafayette ID. Tickets are valid for both contests of Friday's doubleheader. Top-seeded Army takes on fourth-seeded Bucknell in Friday's first semifinal at 3 p.m.
Both of Friday night's semifinal games will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports. Leopard fans without cable to CBS College Sports will also be able to listen to an audio broadcast through LSN All-Access beginning at 5:40 p.m.
