Gilroy and Burgess Named ALC Players of the Year; O'Leary Named ALC Coach of the Year
Thursday, May 1, 2014 | Lacrosse
Shannon Gilroy is the American Lacrosse Conference Midfielder of the Year and Sammi Burgess picked up Rookie of the Year honors, as announced by the league on Tuesday. Additionally, head coach Amanda O'Leary was named the ALC Coach of the Year for the third time in four years.
“I am very proud of Shannon and Sammi,” said head coach Amanda O'Leary. “They have both worked extremely hard this year and these are certainly well-deserved honors. Shannon is an amazing player who has been dominant on both ends of the field. Sammi has had a fantastic freshmen year thus far and all of her extra work has really paid off. I could not be more proud of Shannon, Sammi and all of our All-Conference award winners.”
Florida also placed four players on the All-Conference teams, as Nora Barry and Gilroy earned first-team nods and Caroline Fitzgerald and Burgess were named to the second team.
Gilroy has had a tremendous junior season and leads the NCAA in goals (75), goals per game (4.41) and points per game (5.35), while ranking second in points (91). She also leads the Gators in draw controls (72), caused turnovers (23) and assists (16). She has also picked up 19 ground balls this season and is 29-for-35 from the 8-meter. Gilroy has set or tied 9 program records this season.
Burgess has had an impressive freshman campaign, ranking second on the team with 45 points, 31 goals and 14 assists. She has also tallied 21 ground balls and 15 draw controls. Burgess capped the regular season by scoring a career-high four goals in each of the last two games. She also led the conference with four rookie of the week honors.
O'Leary, the 2011 and 2013 ALC Coach of the Year, led the Gators to their fourth consecutive ALC title and a top-seed in the ALC tournament. O'Leary has recorded a 78-20 record at Florida, including going 27-8 in the ALC.
Winners of the individual awards and All-Conference selections will be honored before each of the first-round games on Thursday, May 1. Florida will be honored before the first game at 2 p.m. between Penn State and Johns Hopkins. The Gators will play in the semifinal game on Friday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m. Florida will face the winner of game 1 between the No. 4 seed Penn State and the No. 5 seed Johns Hopkins.
For all of the latest information on Florida lacrosse, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/lacrosse or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Florida lacrosse on Twitter at @GatorZoneLAX or www.twitter.com/GatorZoneLAX. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.
Offensive Player of the Year
Taylor D'Amore, Johns Hopkins
Midfield Player of the Year
Shannon Gilroy, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year
Lauren Purvis, Penn State
Goalie of the Year
Tori DeScenza, Ohio State
Rookie of the Year
Sammi Burgess, Florida
Coach of the Year
Amanda O'Leary, Florida
ALC First Team
Nora Barry, Florida
Sammy Cermack, Johns Hopkins
Jackie Cifarelli, Ohio State
Madison Cyr, Penn State
Taylor D'Amore, Johns Hopkins
Tori DeScenza, Ohio State
Taylor Donahue, Ohio State
Alyssa Dunlap, Vanderbilt
Shannon Gilroy, Florida
Kerri Harrington, Northwestern
Alyssa Leonard, Northwestern
Lauren Purvis, Penn State
ALC Second Team
Bridget Bianco, Northwestern
Sammi Burgess, Florida
Katie Chase, Ohio State
Kaleigh Craig, Northwestern
Den? DiMartino, Johns Hopkins
Caroline Fitzgerald, Florida
Kate McDonald, Northwestern
Maggie McCormick, Penn State
Jenna Mosketti, Penn State
Anna Schueler, Michigan
Haley Schweizer, Johns Hopkins
Abby Wheeler, Vanderbilt
