SPARTANBURG, S.C. –Richmond’s Ryan Lanchbury and Mercer’s Colin Kelley have been named the Southern Conference men’s lacrosse offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively, for all games March 2-8. The awards are selected by the league office.
Lanchbury scored four points Sunday in a 13-6 loss to Duke, which entered the contest ranked No. 1 nationally in both the Inside Lacrosse and Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine polls. The senior attack from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, scored three goals and added an assist, becoming just the second player in SoCon history to record 100 career goals and the second league player to turn in 20 career hat tricks, both trailing only Richmond’s Teddy Hatfield (2016-19).
Kelley tallied a career-high 17 saves in Mercer’s 16-8 loss Saturday at North Carolina, which came into the contest ranked No. 1 in the USILA/Dynamic coaches poll. The sophomore goalie from Ellicott City, Maryland, faced 45 shots on the day, 33 of which were on goal, and produced a .515 save percentage. He also picked up four ground balls.
Richmond (1-3), which is ranked 19
th in the USILA and Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine polls and 20
th in the Inside Lacrosse poll, returns to action Saturday when it opens league play at VMI at 12 p.m. Eastern. Mercer (2-4) is idle until opening SoCon play March 21 against Jacksonville at 2 p.m. ET.
Other offensive nominees: Kevin Rogers (High Point) and Hartley Jordan (VMI).
Other defensive nominees: JC Higginbotham (Bellarmine), Conor Shears (Jacksonville), Andrew Hamilton (Richmond) and Eric Lane (VMI).
2021 Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Players of the Week
Offense
Feb. 16 Jack Dolan, R-Jr., M, Jacksonville
Feb. 23 Asher Nolting, Sr., A, High Point
March 2 Will McCarthy, Sr., M, Mercer
March 9 Ryan Lanchbury, Sr., A, Richmond
Defense
Feb. 16 Ashton Wood, Jr., FO, Mercer
Feb. 23 Braden Host, Sr., GK, Air Force
March 2 Jack Rusbuldt, Gr., GK, Richmond
March 9 Colin Kelley, So., GK, Mercer
-www.SoConSports.com-