Duke Sweeps ACC Men's Lacrosse Awards

April 28, 2005

BALTIMORE, Md. - Headlined by Player of the Year honoree Matt Danowski, Duke swept the ACC's major award winners and placed five individuals on the all-league squad as announced by conference officials on Thursday evening at the league's annual banquet in Baltimore, Md.

Rookie attackman Zack Greer was named the league's Freshman of the Year while Mike Pressler was honored by his peers as the Coach of the Year. Danowski and Greer were joined on the All-ACC unit by Duke teammates Aaron Fenton, Tony McDevitt and Matt Zash.

Danowski, a sophomore attackman from Farmingdale, N.Y., currently leads the ACC in scoring with 63 total points on 34 goals and 29 assists. Last Saturday at Army, he produced a career-high 10 total points with six goals and four assists in a 19-9 Blue Devil victory. Danowski is the third Duke player to receive the honor, joining Matt Ogelsby (1995) and Kevin Cassese (2002) and becomes the third player in ACC history to receive the league's Freshman and Player of the Year awards along with Virginia's Michael Watson (1994; 1997) and Maryland's Joe Walters (2003; 2004).

Greer, a native of Whitby, Ontario, Canada, has scored a league-best 43 goals on the season and stands just one tally shy of matching Duke's rookie record of 44 set by Dave Hagler in 1978. The left-handed attackman teams with Danowski and junior Dan Flannery to form the most prolific scoring trio in the nation with a combined 164 points.

Fenton, a senior goalkeeper from Philadelphia, Pa., leads the conference in both goals against average (6.09) and save percentage (.632) while McDevitt, a sophomore defenseman from Philadelphia, Pa., spearheads a Blue Devil defense that paces the ACC and ranks second in the nation against the score. Junior midfielder Matt Zash, a team captain from Massapequa, N.Y., has produced 25 points on 12 goals and 13 assists in 2005 en route to earning his second straight all-conference citation.

Now in his 15th season at the helm of the Blue Devil program, Pressler picks up the coaching honor for the third time having also won the award in 1995 and 2001. He led Duke to a school record 11 consecutive victories opening the 2005 campaign and the program's first 3-0 conference ledger as the Blue Devils won the ACC regular season crown.

Duke paced the league with its five All-ACC selections, and the all-league unit was rounded out by Bob Bateman, Michael Culver and Matt Ward of Virginia, Bill McGlone and Joe Walters of Maryland and Jed Prossner of North Carolina.

The 2005 ACC Tournament gets underway on Friday evening at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore with top-seeded Duke taking on fourth-seeded North Carolina at 6 p.m. Second-seeded Virginia will meet third-seeded Maryland at 8:30 p.m., with the championship tilt set for Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

ACC Player of the Year Matt Danowski, Duke

ACC Freshman of the Year Zack Greer, Duke

ACC Coach of the Year Mike Pressler, Duke

All-ACC Team Matt Danowski, Duke Aaron Fenton, Duke Zack Greer, Duke Tony McDevitt, Duke Matt Zash, Duke Bob Bateman, Virginia Michael Culver, Virginia Matt Ward, Virginia Bill McGlone, Maryland Joe Walters, Maryland