Salisbury University graduate student Cross Ferrara (Greenville, Del./Appoquinimink) has been named the Coastal Lacrosse Conference Player of the Year and Christopher Newport University senior Ryan Young (Broadlands, Va./Briar Woods) has been tabbed the CLC Defensive Player of the Year to highlight the inaugural CLC All-Conference Team.

Additionally, Salisbury freshman Blake Malamphy (Annapolis, Md./Archbishop Spalding) has been voted the CLC Rookie of the Year; Stockton University graduate student Luc Swedlund (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) is the CLC Scholar-Athlete of the Year; and the Salibury coaching staff led by head coach Jim Berkman has been voted the CLC Coaching Staff of the Year.

The all-conference team and major awards were voted on by the league’s six head coaches and were based on overall regular season statistics.

Ferrara paced the potent Sea Gull offense, which ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense (18.24 goals per game). Ferrara averaged 5.24 points per game to lead the CLC, and was second in goals per game at 3.71. He totaled 89 points on 63 goals and 26 assists. The graduate student posted a season-high nine points on two separate occasions. He also scored two goals and assisted on three more in Salisbury’s critical win over then-top-ranked CNU. The fifth-year player is up to 440 career points on 337 career goals and 103 assists.

Young anchored the staunch CNU back line, as the Captains ranked second as a team in scoring defense in the CLC, allowing just 9.81 goals per game. He posted 2.31 caused turnovers per game, ranking second among all CLC players. Young helped the Captain defense limit seven opponents to just single digit goals en route to a 15-1 regular season record. He also surpassed the 100 mark for career caused turnovers and is up to 103 heading into postseason play. Young also tallied 44 ground balls this season and is up to 151 for his career. 

Malamphy made an immediate impact on the Salisbury squad as the faceoff specialist. A Second Team All-CLC pick at the faceoff position, he ranked third among all CLC players with a 65.1 percent winning clip as he won 140 total. He ranked fourth in the CLC with 6.00 ground balls per game, picking up 96 total in his rookie season. He also chipped in four goals during the year.

Swedlund, an Education/Special Education major with a 3.90 undergraduate and 4.00 graduate GPA, is a First Team All-CLC attackman this season. He ranked first in the CLC in goals per game (4.17), which also puts him at fifth in NCAA Division III. Swedlund ranked third in the CLC in points per game (4.89), totaling 88 points on 75 goals and 13 assists.

The Salisbury staff including head coach Jim Berkman and assistants Justin Axel, Jayme Block, Nick Garbarino, Chandler Dabbs, and Drew Borkowicz were named the staff of the year by their CLC colleagues. They guided their squad to a 16-1 overall record, 5-0 mark in CLC play, and the top seed in the inaugural CLC Tournament. They mentored a total of 12 all-conference selections, including six First Team honorees along with both the Player of the Year in Ferrara and Rookie of the Year in Malamphy.
 

CLC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cross Ferrara, Salisbury
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Ryan Young, Christopher Newport
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Blake Malamphy, Salisbury
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Luc Swedlund, Stockton
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Salisbury