Spartans Recognized for All-Sunshine State Conference Awards
Conor Whipple is named the SSC Player of the Year for the third time. Coach Rory Whipple earns third Coach of the Year Honors.
MELBOURNE, Fla. - University of Tampa, Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Champions, boasts 13 All-SSC awards. In all, 41 student-athletes were recognized in the fourth year of Sunshine State Conference men's lacrosse. Voting for the All-SSC Men's Lacrosse Team was conducted among the league's head coaches.
Conor Whipple of the University of Tampa is named Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year for the third time in his career. Whipple, a senior from Tampa, becomes the ninth SSC athlete to win a Player of the Year award three times1. Whipple leads the SSC and the nation in Points per Game (5.33) and Assists per Game (3.20). In conference, Whipple is also Top-5 in Goals (32), Shots (114) and Shots per Game (7.60)
Dryden Brous of Lynn University is named Freshman of the Year. Brous won 131 of 192 faceoffs for a .682 winning percentage during the regular season. He ranks first in the SSC and fifth nationally in Faceoff Winning Percentage. The Ocean City, Maryland product is the first Fighting Knight athlete to win a SSC men's lacrosse individual award.
SSC coaches voted Rory Whipple Coach of the Year for a third time. The Tampa skipper earns the honor after going 5-0 in the SSC and 12-4 overall in 2017. Whipple has compiled a 55-13 overall record in the last four seasons and is undefeated in SSC play since men's lacrosse was adopted as a league sport in 2014.This year, he became the All-Time winningest coach in NCAA Division II history.
Conor Whipple repeats as a first team honoree for a fourth consecutive year. He is the first SSC men's lacrosse athlete to reach this achievement. Marty Heyn and Charlie Cummins of Tampa both earn first team accolades for a third time. Nick Wynne of Florida Tech earns his second first team award.
Player of the Year: Conor Whipple, Tampa
Freshman of the Year: Dryden Brous, Lynn
Coach of the Year: Rory Whipple, Tampa
| 2017 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC First Team | ||||
| Attack | Andrew Kew^ | Tampa | So. | Oakville, Ontario |
| Attack | Conor Whipple*~+ | Tampa | Sr. | Tampa, Florida |
| Attack | Nick Wynne~@ | Florida Tech | Sr. | Sykesville, Maryland |
| Midfielder | Logan Sweeney | Florida Tech | So. | Sykesville, Maryland |
| Midfielder | Chris Vetter | Tampa | Sr. | Doylestown, Pennsylvania |
| Midfielder | Michael Urso | Lynn | So. | Boynton Beach, Florida |
| LSM | Addison Abramson | Florida Tech | So. | Reisterstown, Maryland |
| SSDM | Grant Hughes | Florida Tech | Sr. | Windemere, Florida |
| FOGO | Sam Watts | Tampa | Jr. | Buffalo, New York |
| FOGO | Dryden Brous | Lynn | Fr. | Ocean City, Maryland |
| Defense | Marty Heyn~+ | Tampa | Sr. | Gaitherburg, Maryland |
| Defense | Jake Bye | Saint Leo | Jr. | Port Coquitlam, British Columbia |
| Defense | Charlie Cummins*~ | Tampa | Sr. | Penfield, New York |
| Goalie | Dan Flock | Florida Tech | So. | Ellicott, Maryland |
| 2017 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Second Team | ||||
| Attack | Greg Taicher | Rollins | So. | Berwyn, Pennsylvania |
| Attack | Jake Gilmour* | Saint Leo | Jr. | Pickering, Ontario |
| Attack | Kyle Pauwels | Saint Leo | Jr. | Kamloops, British Columbia |
| Midfielder | Tyler Kopen | Florida Southern | Sr. | Wynnewood, Pennsylvania |
| Midfielder | Anthony Visintin | Saint Leo | Jr. | Wading River, New York |
| Midfielder | Jake Mosher McGraw | Tampa | Fr. | Saint John, New Brunswick |
| LSM | Austen Lison* | Florida Southern | So. | Leesburg, Virgina |
| SSDM | Lucas Brush^ | Rollins | Jr. | Dublin, Ohio |
| SSDM | Jack Tyrrell | Tampa | So. | Medford, New Jersey |
| FOGO | Lance Pavlina | Florida Tech | Jr. | Desert Vista, Arizona |
| FOGO | Austin DiPietro | Saint Leo | Fr. | Clermont, Florida |
| Defense | Austin Jackson | Rollins | Jr. | Dublin, Ohio |
| Defense | Luke Posner | Tampa | Jr. | Madisonville, Louisiana |
| Defense | Tom Filipow*= | Florida Tech | Sr. | Fairfield, New Jersey |
| Goalie | Tom Tatarian | Saint Leo | So. | Shoreham, New York |
| 2017 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Honorable Mention | ||||
| FOGO | Jeff Phelps | Florida Southern | So. | Springfield, Virginia |
| Attack | Cody Dyer^%@ | Florida Southern | Sr. | Slingerlands, New York |
| 2017 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Freshman Team | ||||
| FOGO | Dryden Brous | Lynn | Fr. | Ocean City, Maryland |
| Midfielder | Jake Mosher McGraw | Tampa | Fr. | Saint John, New Brunswick |
| FOGO | Austin DiPietro | Saint Leo | Fr. | Clermont, Florida |
| Midfielder | Blake Buell | Rollins | Fr. | Dallas, Texas |
| Attack | Bryan Wright | Tampa | Fr. | Moorestown, New Jersey |
| LSM | Ethan Ticehurst | Saint Leo | Fr. | Coquitlam, British Columbia |
| Midfielder | Kevin Dyer | Florida Southern | Fr. | Slingerlands, New York |
| Midfielder | Reid Chaconas | Florida Tech | Fr. | Westminster, Maryland |
| Midfielder | Matt Shand | Saint Leo | Fr. | Whitby, Ontario |
| SSDM | Bryce Johnson | Florida Tech | Fr. | Iamsville, Maryland |
| Attack | Eric NeCamp | Rollins | Fr. | Powell, Ohio |
| Midfielder | Devin Sparks | Saint Leo | Fr. | Lagro, Indiana |
| Midfielder | Adam Utter | Florida Southern | Fr. | Temecula, California |
* = 2016 First Team
^ = 2016 Second Team
% = 2016 Honorable Mention
~ = 2015 First Team
= = 2015 Second Team
# = 2015 Honorable Mention
+ = 2014 First Team