May 6, 2026

SUNYAC Releases 2026 Men's Lacrosse League Awards

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC announces its 2026 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 - Sean Kavanagh, Cortland
Kavanagh helped his team finish the regular season ranked No. 1 and capture the SUNYAC title. He was named to the first team All-Confernece after leading the league with 46 points in conference play. In addition, he was first with 21 goals and 25 assists in 18 games of league competition. Overall he has 98 points, 51 assists and 47 goals, so far this season. Kavanagh had a season high of nine points on April 22 with seven assists and two goals agianst Morrisville. The team earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament after capturing the SUNYAC title. The Red Dragons will host Western New England in the first round of the tournament Wednesday, May 6 at 4 p.m.

Defensive Player of the Year - James Sullivan, Cortland
In 2026, Sullivan helped lead his team to a SUNYAC championship title for the second straight year. He had 7 caused turnovers in conference play and 12 ground balls. So far this season he totaled 40 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers overall. He had season highs of four ground balls on April 15 and three caused turnovers on April 25. He is part of a defense that has held their opponents to just 140 goals in 19 games, 238 less than what the team scored against their opponents. Sullivan and his team will take on Western New England in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

Rookie of the Year - Damyn LeClair, Potsdam
In his first season with the Potsdam Bears, LeClair helped the team advance to the SUNYAC semifinals. He picked up 42 ground balls and had twenty-one caused turnovers in seven conference games. He started 15 of 15 games totaling 84 ground balls and caused 56 turnovers overall for Potsdam. The team ended the 2026 season 10-5 overall.

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 30th SUNYAC men's lacrosse championship title to go back to back. There were 12 Cortland student-athletes named to the All-SUNYAC team including the Offensive Player of the Year, Sean Kavanagh and the Defensive Player of the Year, James Sullivan. The Red Dragons are 14-5 overall going into the NCAA Division III tournament. Cortland will play Western New England at home in the first round, May 6 at 4 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.

2026 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse All-Conference Teams (PDF)

First Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown / High School
Sean Kavanagh	Cortland	Attack	JR	North Canton / Hoover
Thomas Hnis	Oneonta	Attack	JR	Smithtown / Kings Park
Jamie O'Neil	Oneonta	Attack	SR	Bath / Haverling
Eli Volk	Cortland	Offensive Midfielder	SO	Alamo / San Ramon Valley
Garret Elston	Oswego	Offensive Midfielder	JR	Horseheads / Horseheads
Emmet Starowicz	Oswego	Offensive Midfielder	JR	Syracuse / Westhill
Dino Bowen	Cortland	Defensemen	SR	Yorktown / Yorktown
James Sullivan	Cortland	Defensemen	SO	Rockville Centre / South Side
Damyn LeClair	Potsdam	Defensemen	FR	Marcellus / Marcellus
Tucker Macknik	Cortland	Long Stick	SR	Baldwinsville / C.W. Baker
Ethan Francey	Plattsburgh	Short Stick	SO	Canton / Canton
Drew Costello	Potsdam	Face-Off Specialist	SR	Ogdensburg / Ogdensburg
Saka Thompson	Potsdam	Goalie	SR	Akwesasne / Salmon River
Second Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown / High School
Nick Stoecker	Cortland	Attack	SR	East Setauket / Ward Melville
Stefan Swedlund	Cortland	Attack	JR	Randolph / Randolph
Kyan Dohn	Morrisville	Attack	JR	East Brunswick / East Brunswick
Rowisonkies Barnes	Potsdam	Attack	SR	Akwesasne / Hill Academy
Billy Kozloski	Potsdam	Attack	SR	Johnson City / Johnson City
Frank Neeson	Cortland	Offensive Midfielder	JR	Orchard Park / Orhcard Park
James Violi	Cortland	Offensive Midfielder	SR	East Islip / East Islip
Daniel Macchiarella	Oneonta	Offensive Midfielder	SR	Guilderland / Guilderland
Finn Morris	Oneonta	Offensive Midfielder	JR	Long Beach / Long Beach
Hunter Busch	Oneonta	Defensemen	SO	Babylon / Babylon
Kevin Murray	Plattsburgh	Defensemen	SR	Bellmore / Kellenberg
Fynn Whitlock	Plattsburgh	Defensemen	JR	Middlebury / Middlebury Union
Alex Farben-Griggs	Potsdam	Defensemen	SR	White Plains / White Plains
Aidan Greene	Oneonta	Long Stick	SR	Smithtown / Smithtown West
Conor Cosgrove	Cortland	Short Stick	SO	Warwick / Don Bosco
Nicky Miltenberger	Cortland	Face-Off Specialist	JR	Ridge / Longwood
Sean Grimes	Oneonta	Face-Off Specialist	SO	Croton-on-Hudson / Croton Harmon
Charlie Falowski	Cortland	Goalie	JR	Reading / Joel Barlow