The Empire 8 Conference has named seven players from the St. John Fisher College men’s lacrosse team to its annual All-Conference list, including senior faceoff specialist
Dave Wood who received First Team honors.
Midfielders Jeff Price, and Ryan Schmidt received Second Team accolades, while Kyle Denhoff was given Honorable Mention. Junior attackers Dave Malone and Chris Schmidt also received Honorable Mention recognition. Jason Cirulli was named as Fisher’s representative on the Sportsman of the Year team.
Wood, who ranked second in all of Division III in faceoff win percentage (.736) with 184 wins in 250 attempts, was the only member of the Cardinals named to the First Team. Wood, a three-time All-Conference pick and a preseason All-American, already owned the College record for ground balls and faceoff win percentage, but the senior increased his lead in both categories and closed out his decorated career with a .659 faceoff win percentage (739-of-1,122) and 513 total ground balls.
Price came on strong during the Empire 8 portion of the Cardinals’ schedule this year to earn Second Team honors. The junior midfielder tied for the team lead with 17 goals in eight conference games, and added seven assists to guide Fisher to a 6-2 record in the Empire 8. In a 19-6 conference win over Elmira earlier this season, Price registered a career-high six points with three goals and three assists to lead Fisher. For the season, Price recorded 41 points on 32 goals and nine assists.
After spending his freshman season at Utica College, Ryan Schmidt has made an immediate impact at Fisher. The sophomore finished with 40 points on 24 goals and 16 assists, and registered at least one point in all 17 games he played in. Schmidt tallied a career-best five points (4g, 1a), including the game-winning goal, to help Fisher advance to the finals of the Empire 8 Men’s Lacrosse Championship for the first time in program history with a 15-14 win over Stevens Institute of Technology.
Denhoff, a freshman,tied for fourth on the team in scoring in E8 games this season with 15 points (10g, 5a), and got his Fisher career off on the right foot in his first collegiate contest. Denhoff scored twice and handed out two assists as Fisher posted a lopsided 24-5 win over the visiting Mavericks to open the 2009 campaign, and finished his first season with 23 goals and 17 assists.
Malone tied the College’s single-season record with an impressive 63 points this season, and ranks as one of the top players in program history. After just three seasons, Malone owns the all-time scoring (172), and assists (87) records, while ranking third in career goals with 85. On eight separate occasions this season, the junior attacker notched at least five points, including a seven-point burst in a win over College at Brockport.
Schmidt was the team’s top goal-scorer this season with 44 goals. He ranks second at the College in career goals (104), and has 35 assists for his career, good for third place on the career scoring leader board (139). Despite missing several games in his sophomore season, Schmidt could become the all-time leading goal scorer at Fisher with 46 scores next season.
Cirulli, who scored three goals and dished out one assist while collecting 40 ground balls and causing 17 turnovers, was named as Fisher’s representative on the Sportsman of the Year Team. One member of each team was named that institution’s representative. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.