CENTER VALLEY, Pa. —  Navy sophomores Christian Daniel (Owings, Md.) and Nick Franchuk (Southport, Conn.) were among the 14 student-athletes named to the 2019 Patriot League Men's Lacrosse All-Academic Team it was announced by the league office on Wednesday.

Boasting a 3.99 grade-point average in Mechanical Engineering and Finance, Lehigh junior Conor Gaffney was named the Patriot League Men's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year after being selected as the Patriot League Faceoff Specialist of the Year on Monday.

All nine member institutions were represented by at least one athlete, including Loyola who led the way with three honorees. Bucknell, Colgate and Navy had two players named to the All-Academic Team, while Army, Boston U., Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh had one player apiece. Four All-Academic selections were also named to the All-Patriot League teams announced on Monday, including three first-team and one second-team member.

A starter in all 13 games this season, Daniel closed out the 2019 season as the team's second-leading scorer with 43 points on a team-best 31 goals and 12 assists. He produced 10 multi-point games over the course of the season, including nine multi-goal games, six hat tricks and three multi-assist contests. He was not only named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week this past Monday, but was also named to the USILA National Team of the Week following his performance against Boston University where he scored a career-best eight points (5G, 3A) and played a hand in six of the Mids' seven second-half goals in their come-from-behind victory.

Daniel's accolades are not limited to the playing field, however, as the second-year starting attackman has been stellar in the classroom, as well. Ranked  No. 1 in Academic Order of Merit, No. 2 in Military Order of Merit and No. 5 in Overall Order of Merit among the Class of 2021 (1,166 students), Daniel owns a 4.00 GPA in physics. He has been named to both the Superintendent's and Commandant's List in each of his first three semesters at the Naval Academy.

Franchuk, meanwhile, has amassed a 3.79 GPA in History, earning mention on the Commandant's List three times, the Superintendent's List twice and the Dean's List once. He stands among the top 16 percent of his class in Academic Order of Merit (No. 188), top 6 percent in Military Order of Merit (No. 72) and top 10 percent in Overall Order of Merit (No. 128).

A starter at close defense in eight of his 13 appearances this spring, Franchuk totaled 11 ground balls and recorded five caused turnovers. One of the many defensive highlights Franchuk played a part in was when Navy held Colgate scoreless over the final 18-plus minutes as the Mids rallied from two goals down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Raiders, 16-11.

The Academic All-Patriot League Team was added for all sports beginning in the 2010-11 season to honor student-athletes who excel both on and off the field. To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.

The Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Academic All-League team are nominated and voted on by the League's men's lacrosse sports information directors who cannot cast a ballot for their own student-athletes.

2019 Patriot League Men's Lacrosse All-Academic Team
Scholar-Athlete of the Year:  Conor Gaffney, Lehigh

Player / Yr./ Pos./ GPA, Major
Griffin Schultz, Army / Sr. / D / 3.774, Economics (Minor: Systems Engineering Track)
Joe McSorley, Boston U. / Jr. / GK / 3.77, Business Administration & Management
Reed Malas, Bucknell / Sr. / M / 3.96, Accounting & Financial Management
Christian Klipstein, Bucknell / Sr. / GK / 3.64, Psychology (Minor: Philosophy)
Will Blumenberg, Colgate ** / Sr. / M / 3.54, Geography
Jack Donaghue, Colgate / Sr. / D / 3.71, Neuroscience
Dan O'Connell, Holy Cross ^ / Jr. / FO    3.44, Political Science
Conor Walters, Lafayette / Sr. / A / 3.60, Economics
Conor Gaffney, Lehigh **  / Jr. / FO / 3.99, Mechanical Engineering & Finance
Kevin Lindley, Loyola ** / So. / A / 3.418, Political Science
Aidan Olmstead, Loyola / So. / A / 3.912, Business Administration
John Railey, Loyola / Jr. / D / 3.879, Biology
Christian Daniel, Navy / So. / A / 4.00, Physics
Nick Franchuk, Navy / So. / D / 3.79, History

** - First-Team All-Patriot League
^ - Second-Team All-Patriot League

### Go Navy ###