Seven from RIT land USILA All-American honors
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ROCHESTER, NY — Seven members from the RIT Men’s Lacrosse team were named 2023 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-Americans announced Wednesday, May 24. Graduate student Taylor Jensen was named the Long Stick Midfielder of the Year for the second straight season.
Jensen was a first team selection, along with senior attack Luke Pilcher, senior midfielder John Mozrall and junior defenseman Michael Grace. Sophomore attack Clifford Gaston and senior Sean Traynor were third team picks, and graduate student midfielder Noah Bruno was an honorable mention selection.
The two-time First Team All-American, Jensen led RIT with 41 caused turnovers, averaging 1.78 per contest and a career-best 91 ground balls. The two-time Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year recorded nine points on three goals and six assists. Jensen had 19 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and two assists in four NCAA Tournament games, including five caused turnovers and five ground balls in a win over Western Connecticut in the NCAA Second Round. Jensen joins Matt Hossack (2015, 2016) as two-time winners of the Long Stick Midfielder of the Year award, along with Eli Salama (2018) and Trevor Smyth (2019).
Grace finished second on the team with 41 caused turnovers and tied for second with a career-best 67 ground balls. A 2022 Third Team All-American selection, Grace caused five turnovers, grabbed 10 ground balls in four NCAA Tournament games, including two caused turnovers, two ground balls and a goal and an assist in the Tigers win over Western Connecticut in the second round. Grace grabbed a season-high 10 ground balls in the Tigers 20-9 win at Stevenson (March 18).
Pilcher led RIT with a career-high 95 points on 66 goals and a career-best 29 assists. The 2023 Liberty League Player of the Year tallied 11 goals in four NCAA Tournament games, including five goals in RIT’s 16-6 win over Middlebury in last Saturday’s quarterfinal. A 2022 Honorable Mention All-American, Pilcher recorded at least one point in all 23 games, tying his career-high with nine goals in a win over St. Lawrence. He is tied for 12th in program history with 199 career points and tied for seventh with 143 goals.
A First Team All-Liberty League selection, Mozrall was third on the team with a career-high 65 points. He led the team with a career-best 44 assists and scored a career-high 21 goals. Mozrall recorded 10 points (3g, 7a) in the Liberty League Tournament had six points (3g, 3a) in four NCAA Tournament games. A co-captain, Mozrall had at least one point in all 23 games, including a season-best six points (3g, 3a) against St. Lawrence in the Liberty League Semifinal.
A First Team Liberty League All-Conference selection, Gaston finished second on the team in scoring with a career-high 58 points. He was second on the team with a career-best 50 goals, tallying a season-high six goals three times. Gaston recorded 12 points on seven goals and five assists in four NCAA Tournament games, including three goals and two assists in the third-round game against Babson.
A First Team All-Liberty League selection, Traynor recorded career-highs in ground balls (61), caused turnovers (10), points (13) and goals (9). A co-captain, Traynor had a season-high five ground balls at Clarkson and caused three turnovers against St. Lawrence. He scored a season-high two goals at Union (March 8) and had a goal and an assist versus Ithaca (March 12). Traynor scored three goals, grabbed three ground balls and caused two turnovers in four NCAA Tournament games.
A co-captain, Bruno played in 22 games and had 24 ground balls, caused 15 turnovers and tallied six points (2g, 4a). He finished tied for fourth on the team in caused turnovers, causing a season-high three turnovers against RPI, and grabbed a season-best four ground balls against Skidmore. The 2021 and 2022 All-American had five ground balls, caused three turnovers and recorded a pair of assists in four NCAA Tournament games.
RIT finished with a 21-2 record, advancing to the NCAA Semifinal for the third straight season and 13th overall. The Tigers won their 11th straight Liberty League title.
