SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Southern Conference regular-season co-champion Richmond has swept the four individual specialty awards as the league announced its men’s lacrosse all-conference and all-freshman teams Tuesday. Attackman Ryan Lanchbury was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, long stick midfielder Sean Menges was named the Defensive Player of the Year, attackman Dalton Young was tabbed the Freshman of the Year and Dan Chemotti was selected Coach of the Year in balloting of the league’s seven head coaches.
 
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players or themselves. The all-conference first team features one additional long stick midfielder due to a tie in the voting.
 
Richmond’s specialty awards sweep is the second in league history, as Air Force first accomplished the feat in 2016.
 
Lanchbury, a senior from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, is second in the SoCon with 59 points on 24 goals and 35 assists this season, with his point total tying for eighth in a season in league history and his assist total good for fifth. His 5.36 points per game rank sixth in NCAA Division I this season, while his 3.18 assists per contest rank fifth. Lanchbury’s conference-only numbers are even more impressive, with his scoring average jumping to an eye-popping 7.33 points per game, as he notched 17 goals and a league-best 27 assists for 44 points against SoCon opponents. Lanchbury twice scored a SoCon-record 12 points in a game this season, first doing so with three goals and a league-record nine assists against Bellarmine on March 20 to earn US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Player of the Week honors and matching that feat with five goals and seven assists against Mercer on April 25. Lanchbury, a three-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Week selection this season and the league’s March Offensive Player of the Month, is the Spiders’ first-ever SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and played his way onto the Tewaaraton Award watch list in early April.
 
Menges, a graduate student from Richmond, Virginia, has totaled 30 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers on the season, with his 1.55 caused turnovers per game ranking 24th in Division I. Menges posted a season-best six ground balls in a 17-10 win over High Point on March 26 and had a season-best three caused turnovers three times, doing so against High Point, No. 5 Virginia and Air Force. Menges has helped the Spiders allow just 9.82 goals per game, a league low, and rank second in the league in caused turnovers per game (9.91) and ground balls per game (30.36). He is Richmond’s third Defensive Player of the Year and first since Benny Pugh in 2017. Menges is the first long stick midfielder to win the award in SoCon history.
 
Young leads the SoCon in goals (32) and goals per game (2.91) on the season, ranking 16th in Division I in the latter category. The Chantilly, Virginia, native has scored at least one goal in nine of 11 games this season, posting seven games of at least three goals. Young scored six goals in a game twice this season, first doing so in a 23-6 win over VMI on March 13 and doing so again in a 17-10 win over High Point on March 26, adding two assists for a season-best eight-point day. He earned SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors and a spot on the USILA/Dynamic Team of the Week after both occasions. Young is Richmond’s first-ever SoCon Freshman of the Year.
 
Chemotti earned his second SoCon Coach of the Year honor after leading Richmond to a share of the SoCon title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Chemotti’s Spiders have been nationally ranked all season, peaking at No. 12 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine poll on March 29. Richmond enters postseason play with a 6-5 overall record, with four of those losses coming to squads ranked in the top 10 nationally, and went 5-1 in league play. Chemotti’s team ranks in the top 10 nationally in several categories, including assists per game (10th, 8.91), caused turnovers per game (fourth, 9.91). clearing percentage (10th, .887) and man-up offense (first, .686). He has coached Richmond to a 35-6 SoCon record, four regular-season titles and two tournament titles in the seven years the league has sponsored the sport (regular-season and tournament titles were not awarded in 2020).
 
Richmond led the way with a SoCon-record 11 all-conference selections, putting six on the first team and five on the second team. The Spiders also had a pair of all-freshman selections in Young and Richie Connell, who both also earned second-team all-conference honors. Connell leads Division I with nine man-up goals and Young is second with eight.
 
Jacksonville followed with seven all-conference selections, putting three on the first team, including attackman Jack Dolan and midfielder Evan Tyler, who rank seventh and eighth in SoCon history, respectively, in career points scored. The Dolphins also put four on the all-conference second team and had two all-freshman picks. Bellarmine was next with three total selections, including first-team defenseman Jon Robbins and first-team long stick midfielder Eric Rubak, who rank third and fifth, respectively, in Division I in caused turnovers per game.
 
High Point had two first-team selections, including two-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Asher Nolting, who ranks third nationally with 3.45 assists per game and fifth nationally with 5.55 points per game. The Panthers also had one all-freshman selection in Brayden Mayea, who is second in the league in goals (31) and goals per game (2.82) behind Richmond’s Young.
 
Air Force had two total all-conference selections, with defenseman Quentin Carlile earning a first-team nod, and rounded out the all-freshman team with one pick. Mercer had two second-team all-conference honorees, including faceoff specialist Ashton Wood, who ranks third in Division I with 10.00 ground balls per game and 12th in faceoff winning percentage (.629).
 
The Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship begins Wednesday at Richmond’s Robins Stadium. No. 1 seed and tournament host Richmond will face No. 4 seed Air Force at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by No. 2 seed High Point vs. No. 3 seed Jacksonville at 8 p.m. The title game will be Friday at 12 p.m. All three contests will air live on ESPN+, with Jason Patterson and Phil Cox on the call.
              
 
Offensive Player of the Year
Ryan Lanchbury, Richmond, Sr., A
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Sean Menges, Richmond, Gr., LSM
 
Freshman of the Year
Dalton Young, Richmond, A
 
Coach of the Year
Dan Chemotti, Richmond
 
 
All-Southern Conference
First team
A                Asher Nolting, High Point
A                Jack Dolan, Jacksonville
A                Ryan Lanchbury, Richmond
M               Kevin Rogers, High Point
M               Evan Tyler, Jacksonville
M               Tyler Shoults, Richmond
D                Quentin Carlile, Air Force
D                Jon Robbins, Bellarmine
D                Jason Reynolds, Richmond
GK             Jack Rusbuldt, Richmond
FO             Jacob Griffin, Richmond
SSM           Zack Deaken, Jacksonville
LSM           Eric Rubak, Bellarmine
LSM           Sean Menges, Richmond
 
Second team
A                Sean Goldsmith, Mercer
A                Richie Connell, Richmond
A                Dalton Young, Richmond
M               Brenden Crouse, Air Force
M               Landon Trout, Bellarmine
M               Mitch Savoca, Richmond
D                Colin Hinton, Jacksonville
D                Conor Shears, Jacksonville
D                Ray Baran, Richmond
GK             Jason Yoquinto, Jacksonville
FO             Ashton Wood, Mercer
SSM           Tate Gallagher, Richmond
LSM           Jordan Young, Jacksonville
 
All-freshman
Ethan Grandolfo, Air Force, A
Brayden Mayea, High Point, A
Nathan Kapp, Jacksonville, FO
Jacob Greiner, Jacksonville, A
Richie Connell, Richmond, A
Dalton Young, Richmond, A
 
* Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to be considered for this season’s all-freshman awards.