SUNYAC Releases 2025 Men's Lacrosse League Awards
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC announces its 2025 men's lacrosse annual awards including Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Paul Rose Coaching Staff of the Year and All-Conference teams as voted on by the conference coaches.
Offensive Player of the Year - Jamie O'Neil, Oneonta
O'Neil helped his team finish the regular season ranked No. 3 and advanced through the SUNYAC bracket to the championship game. He was named to the All-Tournament team after totaling 10 points on five goals and five assists in the two games. O'Neil led the league with 17 assists in conference play. In addition, he was second with 39 points and fourth in goals with 22 in league competition. He was also ranked first in the conference with 102 points and 51 assists overall and he finished with 51 goals, the third most across the league. O'Neil had season highs of nine points on April 12, seven assists on March 20 and six goals on April 4. The team finished their season in the SUNYAC finals with an overall record of 9-10.
Defensive Player of the Year - Christian Lembo, Cortland
In 2025, Lembo helped lead his team to a SUNYAC championship title, the first since 2022. He had 10 caused turnovers in conference play and 11 ground balls. So far this season he totaled 41 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers overall. He had season highs of eight ground balls on March 8 and four caused turnovers on April 23. He is part of a defense that has held their opponents to just 141 goals in 19 games, 200 less than what the team scored against their opponents.
Rookie of the Year - James Sullivan, Cortland
In his first season with the Cortland Red Dragons Sullivan was part of the 2025 SUNYAC men's lacrosse championship team. He picked up 14 ground balls and had seven caused turnovers in seven conference games. He started 18 of 19 games totaling 28 ground balls and caused 15 turnovers overall for Cortland. He will compete in his first NCAA DIII men's lacrosse tournament in his rookie season.
Paul Rose Coaching Staff of the Year - Cortland
Lelan Rogers is the head coach of the Cortland men's lacrosse team and he is assisted by TJ Bardsley, Pete Fiorini, Chris Dovi, and Tom Hart. The staff led their team to win the program's 29th SUNYAC men's lacrosse championship title and the first since 2022. There were 11 Cortland student-athletes named to the All-SUNYAC team including the Defensive Player of the Year, Christian Lembo and the Rookie of the Year, James Sullivan. The Red Dragons are 17-2 overall going into the NCAA Division III tournament. Cortland will play Illinois Wesleyan in the second round, May 10 at 3 p.m.
Paul Rose coached the Geneseo men's lacrosse team for 10 seasons from 1971-80, compiling a record of 83-44 and leading the team to the ECAC Upstate Championship in 1974 and 1975. He went on to coach at Division I Colgate and at SUNY-Morrisville. Rose was inducted into the Geneseo Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and remained active in Geneseo's Men's Lacrosse Alumni activities. The Cortland ('67) Hall of Fame member passed away on March 27, 2010.
2025 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse All-Conference Teams (PDF)
| First Team | ||||
| Name | School | Position | Year | Hometown / High School |
| Sam Rothman | Cortland | Attack | SR | Dix Hills / Half Hollow Hills East |
| Jamie O'Neil | Oneonta | Attack | JR | Bath / Haverling |
| Corey O'Connor | Oswego | Attack | SR | Watertown / General Brown |
| Sean Kavanagh | Cortland | Offensive Midfielder | SO | North Canton, OH / Hoover |
| Emmett Starowizc | Oswego | Offensive Midfielder | SO | Syracuse / Westhill |
| Owen Walsh | Potsdam | Offensive Midfielder | SR | Ballston Spa / Ballston Spa |
| Dino Bowen | Cortland | Defender | JR | Yorktown / Yorktown |
| Christian Lembo | Cortland | Defender | SR | Farmingdale / Farmingdale |
| Matt Mangels | Oneonta | Defender | SR | St. James / Smithtown East |
| Tucker Macknik | Cortland | Long Stick | JR | Baldwinsville / C.W Baker |
| Alex Thrasher | Cortland | Short Stick | SR | Vestal / Vestal |
| Stephen Barikyan | Oneonta | Face-Off Specialist | SR | Tappan / Tappan Zee |
| Travis Wagner | Cortland | Goalkeeper | GS | Penfield / Penfield |
| Seamus Hand | Oswego | Goalkeeper | JR | Penfield / Penfield |
| Second Team | ||||
| Name | School | Position | Year | Hometown / High School |
| Kole Stuver | Cortland | Attack | SR | Fairport / Fairport |
| Thomas Hnis | Oneonta | Attack | SO | Smithtown / Kings Park |
| Garrett Elston | Oswego | Attack | SO | Horseheads / Horseheads |
| Cobie Cree | Potsdam | Attack | SR | Akwesasne / Salmon River |
| Ryan Scanlon | Cortland | Offensive Midfielder | SR | Cornelius, NC / William Amos Hough |
| Klay Stuver | Cortland | Offensive Midfielder | SR | Fairport / Fairport |
| Anthony Senecal | New Paltz | Offensive Midfielder | SR | Patchogue / Patchogue-Medford |
| Anthony Munro | Oneonta | Offensive Midfielder | JR | Seaford / Seaford |
| James Sullivan | Cortland | Defender | FR | Rockville Center / South Side |
| Jackson Cummings | Oswego | Defender | SR | Clarence / Clarence |
| Fynn Whitlock | Plattsburgh | Defender | SO | Middlebury / Middlebury Union |
| Cole Slavin | Potsdam | Defender | SR | Corning / Corning-Painted Post |
| Rob Nelson | Oswego | Long Stick | SR | Warwick / Warwick |
| Andrew Guinto | Oneonta | Short Stick | SR | Syracuse / West Genese |
| Logan Prescott | Oswego | Face-Off Specialist | SR | Lancaster / Lancaster |
| Drew Costello | Potsdam | Face-Off Specialist | JR | Ogdensburgh / Ogdensburgh Free Academy |
