STONY BROOK, N.Y. – University of Vermont freshman
David Closterman was named America East Rookie of the Year as eight Catamounts received America East All-Conference recognition at the year-end banquet Wednesday evening.
In total, a program-record eight Catamounts earned a record 11 All-Conference spots and one major award.
RELATED LINKS
Complete Awards List
Closterman earns America East Rookie of the Year honors after posting 21 goals and 31 points in the 2019 regular season. He earned America East Rookie of the Week honors four times, the most in program history. The Doylestown, Pennsylvania native leads the conference and ranks 10th in the country with a .467 shot percentage. On top of the major award, he earned America East Second Team All-Conference and the All-Rookie team recognition. He is Vermont's first Rookie of the Year since
Ian MacKay '18 in 2014.
Senior
Warren Jeffrey earned First Team All-Conference recognition a season after earning Second Team honors. He has 21 ground balls and leads the team with 13 caused turnovers in 2019. The UVM defense leads America East and ranks 10th nationally, allowing just 9.77 goals per game. The Mimico, Ontario native was selected 52nd overall in the 2019 MLL Collegiate Draft by the Chesapeake Bayhawks.
Junior
Nick Washuta, a 2018 All-American, is the America East First Team selection a season after earning a spot on the Second Team. Washuta leads the conference in save percentage (.571) and goals against average (9.41). These marks rank sixth and eighth in the NCAA, respectively. The Orono, Minnesota native also earned a spot on the All-Academic team for the second straight season. He boasts a 3.63 GPA as a Mechanical Engineering major at UVM.
Senior
Andrew Simeon, a defensive captain, picks up a spot on the Second Team. He leads the team in ground balls (52) and is tied for third in the conference with 4.00 ground balls per game. The long pole has a pair of goals in 2019 and three in his career. He ranks ninth in program history with 138 career ground balls.
Junior
Ben French earns Second Team All-Conference honors after leading all Cats with 24 goals and 33 points in the regular season. The 2017 America East All-Rookie team selection ranks eighth in the conference with 1.85 goals per game and 13th in the conference with 2.54 points per game. He is three points shy of becoming the 25th player in program history to record 100 or more points.
Sophomore
Alex Semler earns Second Team All-Conference recognition after finishing the regular season with a .505 success rate at the X. Semler went 75-for-129 (.581%) against America East opponents to finish with the second best in-conference win percentage. He scooped 39 ground balls in the regular season and ranks ninth in America East with 3.00 ground balls per game.
Freshman
Thomas McConvey is Vermont's fifth representative on the All-Conference Second Team. The Toronto, Ontario native has tallied at least a point in all 13 games and ranks third on the team with 18 goals and fourth with 25 points. He also earns a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team.
Freshman
Sal Iaria rounds out the Catamount All-Conference selections with a spot on the All-Rookie team. The Bainbridge Island, Washington native has 11 goals and 22 points in 13 games in 2019. He has five multi-point games in 2019 and earned Rookie of the Week recognition after a four point effort against UAlbany (Apr. 6).
The second-seed Vermont Catamounts (7-6, 4-2 AE) take on the third-seed UAlbany Great Danes (5-8, 4-2 AE) in the America East semifinal round tomorrow afternoon at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium. The game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will stream on AmericaEast.tv.
America East Rookie of the Year
David Closterman, Attack
America East First Team All-Conference
Warren Jeffrey, Defense
Nick Washuta, Goalie
America East Second Team All-Conference
David Closterman, Attack
Ben French, Attack
Thomas McConvey, Midfield
Alex Semler, Faceoff
Andrew Simeon, LSM
America East All-Rookie Team
David Closterman, Attack
Sal Iaria, Midfield
Thomas McConvey, Midfield
America East All-Academic Team
Nick Washuta, Goalie
