PAC Releases 2024 Men’s Lacrosse Annual Award Winners, All-Conference Teams

5/9/2024 12:00:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 2024 All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) men's lacrosse teams and yearly award winners were released Thursday, which was determined through voting by the league's nine head coaches. 

The now five-time PAC champion Grove City College Wolverines claimed three of the top awards, starting with the Offensive Player of the Year in junior midfielder Zachary Hougan (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and the Specialist of the Year in junior short-stick defensive midfielder Trey Zabroski (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood). In addition, Wolverine head coach Alec Jernstedt won Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. 

Also garnering PAC awards was Allegheny senior defender Cassady Bouthet (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) earning Defensive Player of the Year and the PAC Newcomer of the Year is Franciscan freshman attack Joseph James (Herndon, Va./The Heights School).

Hougan was a key cog for the prolific Grove City offense, which ranks third in the nation with 18.26 goals per game. The junior midfielder totaled 31 goals, including a team-high seven man-up scores, and 26 assists for 57 points. Hougan posted four points or more in seven games, highlighted by a six-point (4g/2a) showing in the PAC semifinal victory over Westminster. 

This was the initial season the PAC Specialist of the Year award was given out and Zabroski did a little of everything in a dominant year as a short-stick defensive midfielder for the Wolverines. He finished second on Grove City with 71 ground balls, was their second best faceoff man with 40 wins in 66 attempts (.733 percent) and added 27 points on 14 goals and 13 assists. His work on the defensive side also helped the Wolverines rank 15th in the country in scoring defense with only 8.21 goals allowed per game.

Bouthet secured the top Defensive player honor after he led Allegheny and the PAC with 53 caused turnovers overall and 3.12 per game. He also ranked seventh in the league with 96 ground balls. With Bouthet leading the Gators, they ranked first as a team in the conference with 12.71 CTs a game, ranked second in ground balls with 43.18 per contest and held seven teams to single-digit goals in a game.

James had a historic first season for Franciscan. He led the PAC with 125 points and his 7.35 points per game is tops in the nation. James also ranked second in Division III with 76 goals and 4.47 goals per game and 13th in the country with 2.88 assists per game (49 total in 17 games). The first-year attackman had five games with 12 or more points, highlighted by a pair of 15-point efforts in wins over Hiram (9g/6a) and Anderson (8g/7a). 

Jernstedt led Grove City to the top seed in the conference's tournament after posting an unblemished 8-0 PAC record during the regular season. The Wolverines claimed their fifth consecutive PAC Tournament crown after posting a 17-6 semifinal win over Westminster and a 27-9 victory over Allegheny in the championship game, which sent Grove City to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.

As the winner of this year's PAC Championship Tournament, Grove City earned the conference's automatic-qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. Grove City will take on Bowdoin College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament at 3 p.m. Saturday in Troy, N.Y., at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

Also announced Wednesday were the members of this year's PAC Sportsmanship Team. The PAC's Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to both recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all conference teams.


PAC Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Year: Grove City junior midfielder Zachary Hougan (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro)
Defensive Player of the Year: Allegheny senior defender Cassady Bouthet (Vernon, Conn./Rockville)
Specialist of the Year: Grove City junior short-stick defensive midfielder Trey Zabroski (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood)
Newcomer of the Year: Franciscan freshman attack Joseph James (Herndon, Va./The Heights School)
Coach of the Year: Grove City head coach Alec Jernstedt

 
All-PAC First Team
Position Name School Yr. Hometown/High School
A JP Rakis Allegheny So. Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson
A Joseph James Franciscan Fr. Herndon, Va./The Heights School
A Matt Blythe Grove City Jr. Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima
M Aidan D'Amato Allegheny Sr. Tolland, Conn./Tolland
M Zachary Hougan Grove City Jr. Springboro, Ohio/Springboro
M Gavin Jones Westminster Jr. Henrico, Va./Douglas S. Freeman
D Cassady Bouthet Allegheny Sr. Vernon, Conn./Rockville
D Sam Stevenson Grove City So. Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove
D Benjamin Wohlin Saint Vincent Sr. Delmont, Pa./Franklin Regional
LSM Ryan Evans Grove City So. Crofton, Md./DeMatha
Faceoff Colton Lehberg Grove City So. Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian
SSDM Trey Zabroski Grove City Jr. Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood
GK Danny Stone Grove City Sr. Chantilly, Va./Flint Hill
 
All-PAC Second Team
Position Name School Yr. Hometown | High School
A Kobi Bui Grove City Jr. Harleysville, Pa./Souderton
A Jordan Billet Saint Vincent Grad. York, Pa./West York
A Payton Waight Westminster Sr. Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca
M Jacob Lubawy Chatham So. Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin
M Gavin Cook Franciscan Sr. Syracuse, N.Y./Anthony Henninger
M Luke Jayne Grove City Sr. Vero Beach, Fla./Saint Edward's
M Caleb Hawkins Saint Vincent Grad. Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra
D Thomas Curtin Chatham Jr. Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest
D Zach Furry Grove City Jr. Springboro, Ohio/Springboro
D Aaron Alderette Westminster Sr. Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
LSM RJ Kenna Saint Vincent Sr. Manassas, Va./Gonzaga College
Faceoff Colin O'Malley Westminster Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny
SSDM Jason Muench Grove City Jr. Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
G Garin Stearns Allegheny So. Hudson, Ohio/Revere
 
Honorable Mention All-PAC
Position Name School Yr. Hometown/High School
A Tanner Marsh Chatham Fr. Windsor, Colo./Berkshire School
A Brady Rigdon Chatham Fr. Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson
A James Petrolle Grove City Grad. Damascus, Md./Damascus
A Carter Haid Saint Vincent Sr. Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe
A Carter Watts W&J Sr. Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown
A Brady Page Westminster So. Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley
M Nick Gralewski Allegheny Sr. Meadville, Pa./Meadville
M Gideon Sullivan Allegheny So. Getzville, N.Y./Cathedral (Ind.) 
M Justin Wodarek Saint Vincent Jr. Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
M Chase Lawler Thiel Jr. Etters, Pa./Red Land
M Bennett Medyn Thiel Sr. Macedon, N.Y./Palmyra Macedon
M Paul Shook W&J Jr. Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity
M Jimmy Sentz Westminster Sr. Catonsville, Md./Loyola Blakefield
D Christian Funari Bethany Grad. Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park
D Logan Blankenship Chatham Sr. Dover, Del./Dover
D Benjamin Griffin Grove City Jr. Asheboro, N.C./Greensboro Day
D AJ Bricker Saint Vincent Sr. York, Pa./West York
D David Evangelista Westminster Jr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley
LSM Konrad Homiak Allegheny Jr. Hampstead, N.C./Topsail
LSM Jack Neal Chatham Fr. Minneapolis, Minn./South
FO Anthony DeMarco Allegheny Jr. Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls
FO Noah Delo Chatham Fr. Schwenskville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley
FO Brady Beard Saint Vincent Jr. Shepherdstown, W.Va./Spring Mills
SSDM Griffin Cates Allegheny So. Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey
SSDM Graham Nash Allegheny Sr. Innisfil, Ont./Nantyr Shores
SSDM Devin Traister Chatham Fr. Maineville, Ohio/Little Miami
SSDM Bernard Farnan Saint Vincent Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Quaker Valley
SSDM Nathan Petrarco W&J Sr. North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
SSDM Jahiem Hawkins Westminster So. Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington
G Richard Vale II Franciscan Sr. Lovettsville, Va./Woodgrove
G Garrett Ritts Saint Vincent So. Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights