USILA Division III All-America Team
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Three members of the Ursinus College men's lacrosse team were awarded All-American status by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), capping a season of continued excellence for the program.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Neff was named to the second team, while sophomore midfielder Gerard Brown and junior defenseman Zach Jones earned honorable mention recognition. All three players were first team All-Centennial Conference choices.
The Bears have 13 All-American selections since the program played its first game in 2001, and seven of them have come in the past two years, during which Ursinus has gone 28-7 and reached the CC title game twice.
Neff, an honorable mention selection in 2014 and a third team honoree last season, is the first three-time All-American in program history. This year's CC Defensive Player of the Year, the senior captain became the first Bear to earn three first team all-conference nods after finishing his final season ranked 16th in Division III in goals-against average (7.25).
Neff is sixth in CC history with 709 career saves and ranks third with 45 victories. He is Ursinus' all-time leader in saves, goals-against average (7.34), and save percentage (.604) and ranks sixth all-time with 155 ground balls. Also a standout student, Neff was one of only five players named Academic All-Centennial, which recognizes juniors and seniors on the all-conference roster with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40.
Jones was an integral part of a stingy unit that ranked 24th in the nation in scoring defense (7.35). He started all 19 games in which he appeared, registering 19 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
Brown was one of the nation's breakout stars in 2016, racking up a school-record 37 assists in addition to 15 goals. The sophomore's 52 points were one shy of the program standard set by Dane Mangin in 2006, and Brown joins Neff as the only Ursinus sophomores to earn All-American honors. Brown has 54 career assists already, the third-most in CC history for a player in his first two seasons.
Brown, who was 26th in Division III in assists per game (2.18), had six games with at least three helpers this season, including a five-assist outburst in the season opener against Albright. He is already fifth in school history in assists and well on pace to break the all-time mark of 101 held by Anthony Tori. Brown added 19 ground balls and a caused turnover to his ledger.