May 21, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--Five Patriot League student-athletes were selected to the 2009 USILA All-America teams, which were announced Thursday. Colgate senior Brandon Corp was selected to the First Team, becoming the first player from his school to earn First-Team honors since 1930. Named honorable mention were Bucknell's Billy Haire and Austin Winer and Navy's Tim Paul and Andy Tormey.

Corp captured All-American recognition for the third consecutive season after earning third-team honors last season and honorable mention accolades in 2007. The three-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Corp had another standout season at attack for the Raiders. He paced the Patriot League with 35 goals and 28 assists for 63 points. A four time all-Patriot League selection, he was also the first Raider to be named a nominee for the Tewaraaton Trophy, which honors the top lacrosse player in the United States. His personal-best 63 points this season placed him third in the nation in scoring averaging 4.20 points per game. Corp closed out his career with 194 points off 127 goals and 64 assists, both his points and goals rank second all-time in Colgate history, first in the division I era, while his 64 assists are tied for sixth.

Bucknell's two All-American selections were the most for the program in the past 13 years. It is just the fourth time the Bison have had two All-Americans in the same season. Haire was named an All-American for the first time in his career after a senior season in which he claimed Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year honors. Haire earned his third straight All-Patriot League citation in 2009 with a First-Team mention. Bucknell's defensive stopper, Haire never missed a start in four years at Bucknell. He is the first Bison defenseman to earn All-America honors since Kevin Smithies in 2002.

Winter was Bucknell's leading point-producer for the third consecutive year. In 2009, he compiled 49 points on 17 goals and 32 assists. He had multiple points in all but two of his 15 games this season. He had a season-high six points against Lehigh and also had four five-point games, the last coming against Navy in the Patriot League championship game when he had two goals and three assists. His 32 assists were one shy of his career high and marked the eighth-highest total in program history. His career assist total now stands at 94, which ranks third in school history behind only the Peter von Hoffmann and Chris Cara, who both produced 138. Winter's final point of the year gave him 150 for his career, a total that already ranks fifth all-time at Bucknell with a year still left to play. Winter is the first Bucknell two-time All-American since Cara in 2004 and 2005.

Paul and Tormey became the 268th and 269th different Midshipmen to garner the more than 425 All-America certificates in Navy lacrosse history. Paul received All-American recognition for the first time in his career after pacing the Midshipmen in the scoring column with 32 points on 18 goals and 14 assists in 2009. The two-time Second-Team All-Patriot League attackman produced points in nine of Navy's first 10 games before suffering a severe ankle sprain in the opening minutes of the second half of the Mids' contest against Maryland. Paul would sit out the next two games - Army and Johns Hopkins - before seeing limited action against Colgate and Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament. Though he would not score a point in the Mids' triple-overtime win against Colgate, his goal just minutes into the fourth quarter of the Patriot League Championship Game against the Bison gave the Mids a two-goal advantage.

A first-time First-Team All-Patriot League selection, Tormey led the Midshipmen to their fifth Patriot League Tournament title in Navy's six-year membership of the conference. He was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team after two stellar defensive performances against Colgate and Bucknell. He opened the tournament by holding Colgate's Kevin Colleluori without a shot until the fourth quarter. Colleluori, who scored his only point of the game in the final period, came into the semifinal contest ranked fourth nationally in points per game and third in goals per game. Tormey followed up with an equally impressive effort against Bucknell's top goal producer Joe Mele, whose only shot came with 1:10 remaining in the game. Tormey paced the Mids in caused turnovers, forcing the opposition to cough up the ball 32 times. He anchored a defense that is ranked seventh in the nation (7.69 GPG) and played an instrumental role among the Mids' No. 1-ranked man-down unit that surrendered just six goals on 40 attempts (.850). The 85.0 success rate is tied as the 12th best in NCAA history and best since the 2005 St. John's squad squelched 86.2 percent of its opponents extra-man opportunities.

Navy won the 2009 Patriot League Championship, claiming its fifth title in six seasons. The Mids were ousted by Duke in the NCAA Tournament.