Ozycz, Merritt, and Bell represented Endicott on USILA DIII All-America Team
BEVERLY, Mass. – The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced their annual All-America winners and Endicott graduate student and face-off man Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) became the first Gulls men’s lacrosse player to receive First Team honors. Junior defenseman Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) and freshman goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) earned their first All-America nods as both players were named Honorable Mention.
2013 USILA DIII All-America Team
BEVERLY, Mass. – The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced their annual All-America winners and Endicott graduate student and face-off man Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) became the first Gulls men's lacrosse player to receive First Team honors. Junior defenseman Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) and freshman goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) earned their first All-America nods as both players were named Honorable Mention.
Ozycz is now a two-time All-America face-off man as he appeared on 2012 USILA DIII Honorable Mention list. Prior to Ozycz's First Team recognition this season, the Endicott men's lacrosse had 15 prior players earn Honorable Mention including three-time All-American Eric Hagarty '10 and two-time winners Eddie O'Reilly '09 and Nick Cosco '09.
Ozycz finished with a career year in the Blue and Green, recording 354 face-off wins in 465 chances for a .761 win percentage. That percentage ranked him second in the nation among all NCAA DIII face-off men. His 263 ground balls and 13.8 ground balls per game average was tops in the country. He also scored eight goals with one assist this spring. Ozycz was named CCC Defensive Player of the Year by the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) as well as First Team All-CCC while collecting four CCC and three Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Defensive Player of the Week awards. He was also named All-New England by the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Ozycz's career totals stand at .670 face-off win percentage (1074-of-1602), 714 ground balls, 29 goals, eight assists, 38 points, and 13 caused turnovers. He is the program leader for ground balls while ranking just behind John Ortolani '08 in face-off win percentage.
Joining Ozycz on the USILA DIII All-America Team was defenseman Breck Merritt who earned his Honorable Mention status after being named All-CCC First Team and All-New England by the NEILA. Merritt totaled 11 caused turnovers with 35 ground balls this season while shutting down the opposition's top-line attackers all season long.
This year's CCC Rookie of the Year and All-CCC First Team goalie Cameron Bell appeared on the USILA DIII All-America Honorable Mention Team after posting a 12-5 overall record with 186 saves, a .549 save percentage, and a 9.17 goals against average this season. Bell is the first freshman in Endicott men's lacrosse history to be named an All-American.
Three players from Western New England were the only other representatives from the CCC on USILA's All-America list. Adam Knapton (Canandaigua, N.Y.), Aaron Harris (Eliot, Maine), and Corey Johnson (Maybrook, N.Y.) were all listed on the Honorable Mention squad.