SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Air Force junior attackman Chris Walsch and Richmond senior goalkeeper Benny Pugh were tabbed the Southern Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, by the SoCon head coaches, the conference office announced Tuesday. Furman fourth-year head coach Richie Meade and Paladin freshman midfielder Lou Yovino took Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades, respectively.
The league's coaches also selected two all-conference teams and an all-freshman squad.
Walsch, the 2016 SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, earned 2017 offensive honors by racking up 34 goals, 23 assists and a league-leading 57 points this season. The junior from Hampstead, Maryland, also led the league this season with 33 points on 19 goals and 14 assists in the Falcons' seven conference games this season. Walsch scored on 33 percent of his shots and netted goals on 51.5 percent of his shots that were on frame. His signature performance came in an eight-point effort in the Falcons' 20-2 route over Bellarmine on April 1. For the season, Walsch tallied seven hat tricks, three of which came consecutively against Detroit Mercy, Mercer and Jacksonville. Walsch earned league offensive player of the week honors on March 21 after his five-point performance in the Falcons' opening SoCon game – a 14-6 win over Mercer.
Pugh garners defensive honors after leading the nation in save percentage (67.6 percent) and goals-against average (5.87 goals per game). The native of Powhatan, Virginia, also ranks second in the SoCon and 13th in the nation in saves, averaging 11.79 per game. Pugh anchored a Richmond defense that ranks first in the nation in scoring defense, helping hold Spider opponents to just 6.07 goals per game and a man-down special teams that successfully killed 84.8 percent of Spider penalties. He never surrendered more than nine goals in 14 starts for the Spiders and held nationally ranked opponents such as Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and Air Force to eight goals or fewer in each contest. Pugh also earned player of the week honors six times in 2017 and swept defensive player of the month honors in February and March. Pugh now leads the SoCon all-time with 10 weekly distinctions after claiming honors on four separate occasions in 2015 and 2016.
Yovino, a newcomer from Parkland, Florida, led all SoCon freshmen with 25 goals on the season. Yovino registered three hat tricks in his freshman campaign, including in the Paladins' 12-10 loss against Penn State, who was tabbed the No. 1 team in the nation in the Inside Lacrosse poll in week eight. The freshman was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week after registering a season-high four goals, aiding the Paladins in defeating Air Force, 8-7, on April 8.
Meade, who is in his fourth season at Furman, claimed his first Coach of the Year distinction of his career after guiding the Paladins to the best season in program history with an overall record of 7-7 and 6-1 in conference play to claim their first-ever regular-season championship, alongside Richmond and Air Force. Furman won six of its last seven games to close out its 2017 regular season. In conference games, the Paladins led the league in assists per game (8.43), points per game (21.00), shot percentage (35.2 percent), turnovers per game (11.57) and clearing percentage (89.9 percent), in which they ranked 10th nationally.
Richmond had a league-high seven All-SoCon selections, including six first-team picks, followed by Air Force (six total and five first-team), Furman (five), Mercer (four), Bellarmine (one), Jacksonville (one) and VMI (one).
Walsch is joined by teammate Nick Hruby, Richmond's Teddy Hatfield and VMI's Wesley Sanders as first-team attackers. Hruby, Hatfield and Sanders were first and second in the league with 2.27, 1.93 and 1.55 goals per game, respectively.
Air Force's Grant Gould, Mercer's Lucas Wittenberg and Richmond's J.P. Forester comprise the first-team midfield.
Defending for the first team are Air Force's Brandon Jones and Richmond's Ryan Dennis and Brendan Hynes. Pugh claimed the goalkeeper spot, while teammate Austin Cates grabbed the longstick midfielder spot. Air Force's Trent Harper was voted on as the faceoff specialist.
The second-team attackmen consisted of Bellarmine's Tucker Ciessau, Furman's David Williamson and Mercer's Chris Rahill.
Furman's William Holcomb, Yovino and Jacksonville's McLean Chicquen nabbed spots on the second team as midfielders.
Air Force's Sean LaVine, Furman's Joe Stone and Mercer's Colin Massa claimed second-team honors among the close defensemen. Furman freshman Alec Van de Bovenkamp was named the second-team goalkeeper. Richmond's Peter Moran and Mercer's Michael O'Brien round out the second team as the faceoff specialist and longstick midfielder, respectively.
The six-member all-freshman team includes Air Force's Matt Schwartz, Yovino, Van de Bovenkamp, Dwayne Mattushik of Jacksonville, Mercer's Will McCarthy, Richmond's Tyler Shoults and VMI's John Daniel.
The 2017 SoCon Men's Lacrosse Championship, hosted by the University of Richmond, begins Thursday with two semifinal contests and will conclude Saturday with a noon title game. Thursday's two semifinal matchups, which feature No. 1 seed Air Force against No. 4 seed Jacksonville (5 p.m.) and No. 2 seed Richmond versus No. 3 seed Furman (7:30 p.m.), can be viewed on the SoCon Digital Network. The championship game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
2017 SoCon Men's Lacrosse Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Chris Walsch, Air Force, Jr., A
Defensive Player of the Year
Benny Pugh, Richmond, Sr., GK
Freshman of the Year
Lou Yovino, Furman, M
Coach of the Year
Richie Meade, Furman
All-SoCon First Team (four attackman due to tie)
A – Nick Hruby, Air Force, Jr.
A – Chris Walsch, Air Force, Jr.
A – Teddy Hatfield, Richmond, So.
A – Wesley Sanders, VMI, Jr.
M – Grant Gould, Air Force, Jr.
M – Lucas Wittenberg, Mercer, So.
M – J.P. Forester, Richmond, Sr.
D – Brandon Jones, Air Force, So.
D – Ryan Dennis, Richmond, Sr.
D – Brendan Hynes, Richmond, Sr.
GK – Benny Pugh, Richmond, Sr.
FO – Trent Harper, Air Force, So.
LSM – Austin Cates, Richmond, Jr.
All-SoCon Second Team
A – Tucker Ciessau, Bellarmine, Sr.
A – David Williamson, Furman, So.
A – Chris Rahill, Mercer, Sr.
M – William Holcomb, Furman, So.
M – Lou Yovino, Furman, Fr.
M – McLean Chicquen, Jacksonville, Jr.
D – Sean LaVine, Air Force, Jr.
D – Joe Stone, Furman, Sr.
D – Collin Massa, Mercer, Sr.
GK – Alec Van de Bovenkamp, Furman, Fr.
FO – Peter Moran, Richmond, Sr.
LSM – Michael O'Brien, Mercer, Fr.
All-Freshman Team (seven due to a tie)
Matt Schwartz, Air Force, A
Lou Yovino, Furman, M
Alec Van de Bovenkamp, Furman, GK
Dwayne Mattushik, Jacksonville, A
Will McCarthy, Mercer, M
Tyler Shoults, Richmond, M
John Daniel, VMI, A
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