LOWELL, Mass. -- Junior midfielder Dan Cozzi (Reading, Mass.) and freshman face-off midfielder Liam McDonough (Groton, Mass.) of the UMass Lowell Men's Lacrosse team were all named to the America East All-Conference First Team on Wednesday night at the annual championship banquet on the campus of Stony Brook University.

Cozzi and McDonough are the first two players in program history to earn America East First-Team All-Conference honors.

McDonough was also named to the America East All-Rookie Team, while seniors Grant Lardieri (Ada, Mich.) and Will Russo (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) were chosen to the America East All-Academic squad.

Cozzi finished the year with 37 points in 11 games for the River Hawks, which included a career-high and team-best 30 assists. He led the conference with 30 assists and his 2.7 assists per game was best among America East players and ranked eighth among Div. 1 players. 

"Dan led the conference with the most assists and most assists per game," stated UMass Lowell Head Coach Ed Stephenson. "This was especially impressive coming from the midfield position. This is a scoring category usually dominated by attackman. This was also noteworthy because he missed three games due to injury and played hurt for half the season. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Dan can do next year as a senior."

McDonough set a single-season program record with 109 ground balls in his rookie season, to go along with a 61% face-off win percentage (184-304), which led the conference and ranked 19th in the nation. His 109 ground balls and 7.8 ground balls led the conference and ranked 14th in the country.

"Liam is one of the most dominant freshman that I've seen in our conference over the years," said Stephenson. "Liam had an outstanding freshman campaign at the face off x, and he was our top scoring threat in transition. He led the conference in ground balls by 45, almost double the next guy. He led the conference in face off percentage, face off wins, and most points for a face off guy. More impressive, he's off to a great start in his computer engineering major."
 
Lardieri, who was named to the All-Academic Team for the second time in his River Hawk career, is the Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and owns a 3.99 GPA as a chemistry major. He has been in the dean's list all seven semesters at UMass Lowell and has a 4.0 GPA in six of seven semesters on campus. He is also a two-time captain and is part of the Team IMPACT leadership team. Was selected to the AE Winter/Spring Honor Roll in 2018 and 2019 and was also a Commissioner's Honor Roll selection both of those years. Lardieri started 12 of 14 games for the River Hawks this season. He posted a 4-8 record with a 11.90 GAA and a .511 save percentage in his senior campaign. His 14.1 saves per game in America East play led the conference.

"Grant had a sensational year in goal, he put us in position to win every conference game," remarked Stephenson. "He's been a consummate leader for four years. Most importantly, Grant's accomplishments in the classroom, which are extraordinary, have enabled him to pursue medical school next year. Grant has been a leader on and off the field for four years, he is one of the most remarkable young men that I've coached in my career."

Russo, who has posted a 3.65 GPA as a Business Administration major, has been on the Dean's List in six of seven semesters at UMass Lowell. Russo played in all 14 games for the River Hawks in his senior year, posting a career-high 18 points and 12 goals, after posting only one career point in 32 career contests coming into 2019. His 12 goals ranked fifth on the UMass Lowell roster.

"Will Russo been a leader on and off the field for us," said Stephenson. "He's been one of the most selfless players I've had the honor of coaching, and we're excited that he'll be back as a captain again for his redshirt senior year."

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