BAGLIVI NAMED GNAC MEN’S LACROSSE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR; FIVE OTHERS EARN ALL-GNAC HONORS

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior defender Chris Baglivi (Mattituck, N.Y.) has been named the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning. Baglivi also earns First Team All-Conference honors along with fellow defender Brendan Gallagher (Solon, Ohio) and face-off specialist Michael Sousa (Cranston, R.I.).  Senior attack Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) was tabbed to the GNAC Second Team while junior attack Charlie Moran (Maitland, Fla.) and senior short stick midfielder Sean Reilly (Deer Park, N.Y.) earn Third Team honors.

Baglivi earns Defensive Player of the Year honors after a solid senior campaign that saw the big man play in and start all 17 contests for the Saints. Baglivi led the GNAC and ranked tied for seventh in the country among NCAA D-III Men's Lacrosse players with 45 caused turnovers. He recorded 68 groundballs to rank first among GNAC defenders and ninth overall in the conference and added his best offensive season with three points on one goal and two assists.

Over his career, Baglivi appeared in 74 games to share the program record and started 71 of them to rank second in career starts. The Mattituck, N.Y. native graduates the program leader in caused turnovers with 189 and third all-time in groundballs with 240. The former GNAC Rookie of the Year helped the Saints to three consecutive GNAC Championships and joins 2016 grad Pat Heffernan as just the second player in program history to earn the Defensive Player of the Year honor.

Gallagher joins Baglivi on the GNAC First Team following an equally impressive senior campaign. The defender also played in and started all 17 contest causing 31 turnovers to rank second on the team and fourth overall in the GNAC. He registered a career-high 38 groundballs and added one assist on the year. He also posted a 1.000 faceoff winning percentage this season, going 1-for-1 in the middle circle.

Over his four years with the Saints, Gallagher was often overshadowed by Baglivi and Heffernan but will still go down as one of the program's greatest defenders of all-time. He appeared in 74 games to share the program lead and started 71 contests to rank tied for second all-time. The Solon, Ohio native registered 108 caused turnovers to rank third all-time and also secured 121 career groundballs to rank 10^th overall in program annals.

Sousa earns GNAC All-Conference First Team honors following a standout junior campaign. The faceoff specialist played in and started 16 contests for EC and tallied a career-best 214 faceoff wins in the circle while registering a .622 winning percentage. In GNAC play, Sousa ranked first in the conference with 119 faceoff wins. He tallied 153 groundballs on the year to rank second in the GNAC and the 153 GB's was a new EC single-season record while his 90 groundballs in GNAC action topped the GNAC. Sousa set a new Emmanuel single-game record with 17 groundballs in a 13-9 win over UMass Dartmouth on March 28 and followed it up later in the season with 17 groundballs on April 11 in a win over Anna Maria.

Over three years with the Saints, Sousa has established himself as one of the most consistent faceoff men in program history. He current ranks second all-time in faceoffs taken (716), faceoffs won (400) and groundballs (251) while his .559 faceoff winning percentage is best among players who have taken more than 100 faceoffs.

Cibelli earns GNAC Second Team honors after appearing on the GNAC First Team in both 2015 and 2016. The attackman's numbers suffered due to a midseason ankle injury that had him miss four games but despite the midseason break, Cibelli managed to post 43 points on 27 goals and 16 assists to rank tied for 19^th in the GNAC in points, 20th in goals tied for 15^th in assists. The senior tallied at least one goal in every game this season and was tabbed to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll twice during the campaign.

Over his career, Cibelli played in 70 games to rank tied for eighth all-time and earned 68 starts to rank fourth most in program history. The Westboro, Mass. native graduates the program's all-time leader in assists with 64 helpers and ranks second all-time in goals with 127 scores and points with 191 total.

Moran enjoyed a breakout campaign to earn Third Team honors, leading the Saints in goals (34) and points (51) while ranking tied for ninth in the GNAC in goals and tied for seventh in total points. On April 11 vs. Anna Maria, the junior set the new single-game point record with nine points on six goals and three assists which also tied the single-game goals mark (six). Moran's season got cut short with a wrist injury that caused him to miss the final game of the regular season along with the GNAC tournament.

Through his first three years at Emmanuel, Moran has tallied 86 points on 57 goals and 29 assists and will look to become just the fourth player in program history to reach the 100 point milestone during his senior season.

Reilly rounds out the group of All-Conference players with Third Team honors following Second Team honors in 2016. The short stick midfielder played in all 17 contests this season, starting 11 for the Saints. He wrapped up the campaign with 18 points on a career-high 12 points and six assists, recording 23 groundballs and causing eight turnovers.

In three years at Emmanuel, Reilly appeared in 55 games and recorded 22 points on 15 goals and seven helpers to go along with 69 groundballs and 26 caused turnovers.

The Saints concluded the 2017 campaign with an overall record of 7-10, finishing GNAC play with a 4-4 slate to earn the No. 5 seed in the GNAC tournament. 

Click here to view the 2017 GNAC Men's Lacrosse All-Conference Team