Players of the Week - Group 2
April 9, 2019 - 
Section V Boys Lacrosse Coordinator Mike Simon and conjunction with the Connors and Ferris law firm have restructure the Players of the Week awards and for the first time this year, there will be offensive and defensive winners in each of the four classes.
Players of the week recognizes noteworthy performances by players throughout the section. Previous winners: Group 1
Offensive Players of the Week
This time we recognize two seniors, a junior and a freshman who made a difference for their teams this season, and in particular, last week.
Class A
Sometimes people get caught up in the teams that are winning, but excellent performance can happen with any player on any team. Freshman midfielder Chrishawn Hunter scored three goals and two assists as East United won their first game this year. Last week he totaled 9g-2a.
Head Coach Sean Banks says "Chrishawn is leader just by showing the commitment despite losses. He tries to get team mates better and he never misses practices. He works harder than anyone on our team and his passion shows all the time. He has a 3.4 Grade point average."
Class B
Brighton junior attackman Lukas Stanat has produced big numbers thus far this season (17g/10a) and was instrumental in the Baron's wins over Penfield and CBA, when he scored the winning goal in double overtime.
Head Coach D.T. Benedict says "Lukas has great vision but he also has a knack for finding the back of the net in moments when we need a goal the most. Most specifically I think of a play coming to the end of the second quarter against Penfield where he split through 3 defensemen and scoring with under a minute left and the game winner in double OT vs. CBA. He is an outstanding young man to coach and lucky for me he's a junior."
Class C
Geneva senior midfielder, Sam Miller has been playing on the Varsity since eighth grade and has a career record of 180g-118a (298 pts) so he is certainly the "go-to guy" for the Panthers. He has scored in every game this year including 2g-3a and 2g-5a against league teams, Marcus Whitman and Gananda.
Head Coach LJ Russell says "Sam had a big opening week in our win over Corning (game winner in OT) and our one goal loss to Skaneateles. He is drawing the opponents best defensive player in each game and the double (and sometimes triple) teams come at him quickly. He has learned to see the field and look to create and not just score. Sam is about to get his 300 career point this week."
Class D
Midlakes senior, Brandon Macdonell, has been a four year varsity attackman who has been instrumental in their 3-0 start this year. He has 10g-5a thus far this year including 7g-3a last week against league teams, Waterloo and the Pride.
Midlakes Head Coach Ben Clement says "Brandon is a great leader on and off the field. He is a four-year starter that has worked hard both during the season and in the off season to improve his game each year."
Defensive Players of the Week
This time we recognize two seniors a junior and a sophomore. Two are goalies, one is a long stick/defenseman and one is a faceoff specialist. Each made a difference for their teams from the start of the 2019 season through last week.
Class A
It was a record breaking week for senior midfielder and face off specialist Shawn Doran as he claimed the team record in career ground balls (380), previously held by Harald Jurgens (365) in 2014. He often picks up ground balls from the face offs and last week he went 23/25 (92%) against Churchville-Chili, 17/31 (54%) against Victor and 20/21 (95%) against Spencerport.
Head Coach Craig Lepiane says "Shawn is a very physical and highly skilled face-off player. The piece which makes Shawn stand out is that he has the IQ to play both sides of the ball. He understands every aspect of defense and knows every rotational set on offense. Shawn has a bright future at the next level. Mercyhurst is getting a top notch lacrosse player."
Class B
Long Stick defensive midfielders often play an important role in the wins for a team, but it's hard to quantify their successes on the scorebook. There is little doubt, however, that senior midfielder, Brandon Clark's, nine take aways in the Rush-Henrietta game, gave the Saints the 11-10 win last week.
Head Coach Cubby Chalmers says "Brandon stepped up for us this year. Only having played two years of lacrosse he was asked to play with a long Pole this year as a LSM, and as demonstrated through his performance against RH has filled that role beyond any and all expectations. Brandon has also been asked to step up and be a leader for us as a team Captain and again has filled that role both on field and off."
Class C
Junior goalie, Noel Nieves, had thirteen saves (62%) to help Eastridge win their first game their season. In the 9-8 win against Brockport he came up with big saves and sparked his offense as well.
Head Coach Matt Kleehammer says "Noel, a National Honor Society award winner, made some key saves down the stretch in a back and fourth game .He also started a couple clears after saves that were key to our success. On one, we were man down and we scored on his clear. He's one of the hardest workers on my team and as we know he takes a lot of shots in games and practice never gets down."
Class D
Big performances can come from any player and sophomore goalie Gavin Conlan stepped up with ten saves (67%) as the Little Irish defeated Haverling in a close 7-5 win.
Head Coach Pat Olbrich says "Gavin continues to work really hard and comes to practice every day with a great attitude. We have some really great leadership on our defense and Gavin fits right in with that whole group to work on improving every day. I am very proud of his attitude and the effort that he brings every day."
