CAPE COD, Mass. - ECAC Commissioner Rudy Keeling is pleased to announce that 44 student-athletes from the ECAC Lacrosse League have earned a spot on the prestigious 2009 All-ECAC Academic Team. It is a record number of honorees, topping the 35 selections from the 2008 team.

In order to be selected to the team, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA through at least four semesters of work at his current institution, be a significant contributor to his team and have participated in at least 50 percent of the games (33 percent of the minutes for goalies).

Rutgers University led the way with eight selections followed by Hobart, who had seven student-athletes named to the team. Penn State and St. John's had six players selected, and Fairfield, Georgetown and Massachusetts each had five picks, while Loyola had two players honored. Rutgers eight selections are the tied for the most any team has ever had (St. John's in 2008 and Penn State in 2003).

Individually, Tim Balise, a senior attackman from UMass who led the ECAC in goals per game during league play with 20 goals in seven conference games, also finished his academic career with a perfect 4.00 GPA. Gavin Buckley, the starting goalie for St. John's in its conference win over then No. 5 Georgetown, has a 3.97 GPA.

Balise was also the only player to earn a spot on both the ECAC first team and the ECAC All-Academic team. Three ECAC second team selections also made the All-Academic team: Craig Dowd of Georgetown, Jeff Colburn of Hobart, and Robert Hayes of UMass.

2009 All-ECAC Academic Team

Fairfield

Mike Gianelle Jr. D 3.29

Billy Honovich Sr. D 3.24

Doug Kuring So. A 3.25

Steve Golmont So. M 3.59

Sean Bannon So. D 3.68

Georgetown  

Craig Dowd Jr. A 3.33

Ben Hostetler Sr. M 3.66

David Shriver So. A 3.30

Chris Taylor Sr. D 3.75

Dan Vinson Gr. M 3.22

Hobart

Jeff Colburn Sr. A 3.22

Kevin Curtin Jr. A 3.75

Nunzio Doldo So. M 3.25

Ricky Evans Sr. D 3.29

Chris Hurley Sr. D 3.28

Max Silberlicht Jr. G 3.30

Mike Suits Jr. M 3.27

Loyola 

Kyle Cottrell Jr. D 3.68

Brian Cullinane Gr. DM 3.68


Massachusetts 

Tim Balise Sr A 4.00

Robert Hayes Jr. M 3.49

Brennan Mack Sr. D 3.35

Casey Rahn So. LSM 3.55

Stephen Zorkers So. SSDM 3.59

Penn State  

Will Donley So. A 3.89

Alex Garrity So. M 3.50

Kevin Joyce Jr. D 3.23

Jordan Kolb Sr. M 3.32

Matt Shankoff So. M 3.72

Colton Vosburgh So. M 3.50 

Taylor Bottar Jr. M 3.50

Hunter Burnard Jr. M 3.30

Rutgers

Adam Goldberg Jr. A 3.52

Sean Hover Jr. D 3.61

William Olin Jr. G 3.56

Jeff Rommel Sr. A 3.83

Brian Shemesh So. D 3.27

Steven Watson So. M 3.47

St. John's

Joe Bagnasco So. A 3.50

Gavin Buckley Jr. G 3.97

Dan Cremens So. D 3.44

Robert Fitton Sr. A 3.37

Drew Schanen Sr. A 3.48

Matt Viscusi Sr. M 3.44