ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Three weeks after receiving his diploma from the Naval Academy, lacrosse standout John Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.) was recognized for his excellence in the classroom and was named a Scholar All-American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. He was one of seven Patriot League student-athletes named to the list which included 43 Div. I graduates.

Connors, who was named the 2016 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year, garnered the award after graduating with a 3.16 grade-point average in history. A member of the Commandant's List five of the eight semesters at the Academy, he was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy and will serve aboard the USS Dewey (DDG-105) as a Surface Warfare Officer (Nuclear).

Between the pipes, Connors helped direct a defensive unit that held 10 of its 16 opponents to nine goals or less and allowed an average of 7.38 goals per game this spring. It's the Mids' lowest goals-against average since they surrendered a stingy 6.50 goals per game in 2008. Navy (16 gms), Monmouth (14 gms) and Detroit (12 gms) allowed the fewest goals in the country this season with 118.

Connors closed out the season ranked #2 in the country in goals-against average (7.25) and #9 in save percentage (56.8). The 7.25 GAA is the lowest by a Navy keeper since 2007 when Colin Finnegan finished the year #3 with a 6.46 GAA. The year prior, Matt Russell earned Third-Team All-America honors and led the country with his 5.45 average. Meanwhile, the last time Navy had a player finish inside the top 10 in save percentage was in 2010 when RJ Wickham owned a 59.3 mark and finished fifth. Connors' 56.8 save percentage was the best by a Navy player since Wickham stopped 57.0 of the shots he faced in 2012 and was 10th nationally.

A three-year starter, Connors earned the starting nod in each of the last 44 games in which he saw action including 24 straight Patriot League contests. He amassed 427 saves over his career and became just the ninth player in program to reach the 400-save milestone when he made 12 stops in the Mids' NCAA Tournament victory over Yale on May 15. A week later, he put together an epic performance that saw him make a career- high 21 saves against Brown in the NCAA Quarterfinals. He is the first Navy player to produce 20 saves in a game since RJ Wichman had 20 against Georgetown on April 1, 2011, while it's the most saves by a Navy keeper since Seth DiNola stopped 21 shots against Penn State on April 12, 2003. It marked just the sixth time in Navy's 44 NCAA Tournament games that it has recorded 20-plus saves and the first since May 17, 1989, when the Mids made 23 stops against Penn.

The Mids, who closed out their season ranked #15 in the USILA/Nike Coaches Poll and #9 in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll distributed by Inside Lacrosse, eclipsed the 10-win mark for the first time since 2009 (11-5). Navy produced an 11-5 record that featured a 7-1 mark in Patriot League action as the Mids claimed their second consecutive share of the Patriot League regular-season crown. They earned an at-large bid in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and made their first NCAA Quarterfinals appearance since 2008.

### Go Navy ###