Men's Lacrosse: Six Raiders named to GNAC All-Conference Teams

(Winthrop, Mass.) After their best regular-season finish in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, the Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team had six student-athletes awarded All-Conference honors the GNAC announced on Monday afternoon.

This is the first time in the short 9-year history of the Raiders Men's Lacrosse program that it had six student-athletes garner All-Conference accolades and the first time since 2016 were more than two Raiders were placed to post-season honors.

Leading the way was junior attackman Colby Larsen (Windham, N.H.), who returned to the All-Conference Second Team after earning All-Conference Second Team honors as a freshman. Larsen finished the 2018 campaign leading the team with 36 goals scored and 46 points while accumulating a 76.1% shots on goal. He appeared in all 16 games played, starting 15 of them, and picked up 16 groundballs to go along with his 10 assists.

Joining Larsen on the All-Conference Second Team are both juniors Sean Brady (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Eric Guinasso (Pelham, N.H.), who earned their first career All-Conference selections. Brady contributed on the offensive end for the Raiders as he wrapped up his season with 24 goals scored, 15 assists for 39 total points. He led the team with eight man-up goals and also scooped up 17 ground balls. Guinasso played in 15 contests racking up 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points – fourth highest on the team.

Seniors Liam Ryan (Dorchester, Mass.) and Joe Kelland (Watertown, Mass.) were named to the All-Confernece Third Team. This was Ryan's third consecutive placement to the All-Conference team as he garnered second team honors as a sophomore (2016) and third team honors a year ago. Ryan finished his career in Raider blue with a fantastic season in which he scored 30 goals, added 12 assists for a total of 42 points (2nd highest on team) while delivering four man-up goals and a man-down goal as well. He led the team with 36 groundballs and shots taken at 110.

Kelland wrapped up his career with his first All-Conference selection as he pumped in 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points. He recorded three man-up goals and picked up 31 ground balls while finishing with a 73.5% shots on goal.

Sophomore Jack Nordin (Dunbarton, N.H.) was the youngest Raider to be selected to the All-Conference team as he was tabbed a Third Team defenseman. Nordin finished second on the team with 35 groundballs and seven caused turnovers while consistently being matched up with the opponent's top offensive attackman. He appeared and started all 16 games and scored two goals out of the three shots he took on net.

The team finished the 2018 regular-season with a 5-4 GNAC record and an overall mark of 6-10. As the GNAC Tournament fifth seed, the Raiders traveled to #4 Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the tournament quarterfinals, falling in heart-breaking fashion 12-11 in triple overtime.

For the complete list of the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Conference teams, please visit www.theGNAC.com or click here.