ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Following a season that saw the Navy men's lacrosse team produce a 6-3 record that featured wins over Army in the annual Star Game and NCAA Tournament-bound Loyola, along with achieving a national ranking for 10 of the 14 weeks, second-year head coach Joe Amplo and his staff recognized the recipients of the annual team awards.


Lt. Robert T. Bianchi Award • Presented to Navy's Most Valuable Player
• 2021 Recipient - Spencer Rees (Sr / GK)
• 2021 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year
• 2021 First-Team All-Patriot League
• Ranked #17 nationally in goals-against average (9.88), #4 in save percentage (58.9) and #5 in saves per game (14.00)
• Navy's defensive unit as a whole finished out the year ranked #13 in the country and #3 in the Patriot League in scoring defense (10.00) and #22 nationally (#3 in the PL) in man-down defense (20 of 29, 69.0) ... the Mids were also #11 in the Patriot League and #2 in the PL in clearing percentage (88.5)
• Named the US Lacrosse Div. I National Player of the Week, selected to the USILA Div. I National Team of the Week and named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week after leading the Mids to a 9-4 victory over #10 Army behind a career-high 19-save performance ... it's the most by a Navy player since Ryan Kern turned aside 19 shots against Princeton on March 5, 2019 ... 14 of his 19 saves were made over the final 30 minutes, making five stops on 11 shots in the third quarter and nine saves on 20 shots in the fourth.
• The Mids held Army to just four goals, its lowest goal output since losing to Loyola 13-4 in the 2017 Patriot League Championship Game
• It was also the fewest goals scored by Army in an Army-Navy Game (Star Game or otherwise) since the Mids beat the Black Knights 8-4 on April 11, 2009
• Anchored a defensive effort that held #15 Loyola (April 17) scoreless for the first 11+ minutes of the game as Navy raced out to a 6-0 lead ... also held the Greyhounds to just one shot and without a goal over the last 4:59 of the game to secure the program's first win over Loyola in Baltimore
• Made 15 saves against the Greyhounds, including turning aside Peter Swindell's 10-yard shot with 3:28 remaining that would have knotted the game

Coach Willis P. Bilderback Award • Presented to Navy's Outstanding Defensive Player
• 2021 Recipient - Nick Franchuk (Sr / D)
• 2021 Navy Lacrosse Co-Captain
• 2021 First-Team All-Patriot League
• Selected by his teammates and the coaching staff to wear jersey #40 in honor of fallen Navy SEAL and former Navy lacrosse player Lt. Brendan Looney, who was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 21, 2010
• A starter at close defense in each of the last 20 contests (last 6 gms of '19, 5 gms in '20, 9 gms in '21)
• With 24 takeaways over his four seasons, he closed out his career tied with Hiram Carter (2015-18) for 14th-place on the Mids' all-time caused turnovers list
• Led the team with 11 caused turnovers and was 62nd nationally (10th in the Patriot League) with his 1.22 average
• Navy's defensive unit as a whole finished out the year ranked #13 in the country and #3 in the Patriot League in scoring defense (10.00) and #22 nationally (#3 in the PL) in man-down defense (20 of 29, 69.0) ... the Mids were also #11 in the Patriot League and #2 in the PL in clearing percentage (88.5)
• Twice named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, including after his performance against Army in the Star Match ... held Brendan Nichtern, the nation's eighth-leading scorer (5.38 pts/gm), scoreless in the Mids' victory over the Black Knights ... it was only the third time in Nichtern's career (35 gms) that he has been held without a point (Penn 2019, Loyola 2021) ... Franchuk also held the Tewaaraton Award nominee to just 3 shots, while being forced into a trio of turnovers
• Earned his first-career Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week citation after anchoring a defensive unit that held Mount St. Mary's scoreless for the first 37-plus minutes of the game, while Navy jumped out to a 7-0 lead ... matched his career high with 2 caused turnovers ... scored his second-collegiate goal, running the length of the field and burying the shot in the second quarter
• The Mids held Army to just four goals, its lowest goal output since losing to Loyola 13-4 in the 2017 Patriot League Championship Game
• It was also the fewest goals scored by Army in an Army-Navy Game (Star Game or otherwise) since the Mids beat the Black Knights 8-4 on April 11, 2009
• Held Lafayette leading scorer and 2021 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Peter Lehman (20-4=24Pts) scoreless (7 shots) for the ONLY time in Lehman's 11 games this spring
• Anchored a defensive effort that held #15 Loyola (April 17) scoreless for the first 11+ minutes of the game as Navy raced out to a 6-0 lead ... also held the Greyhounds to just one shot and without a goal over the last 4:59 of the game to secure the program's first win over Loyola in Baltimore


Lt. j.g. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Award • Presented to Navy's Outstanding Midfielder
• 2021 Recipient - Tim Griffin (Sr / SSDM)
• 2021 Second-Team All-Patriot League
• Played in 37 of the 41 games during his career and developed into one of Navy's top defensive midfielders
• Navy's defensive unit as a whole finished out the year ranked #13 in the country and #3 in the Patriot League in scoring defense (10.00) and #22 nationally (#3 in the PL) in man-down defense (20 of 29, 69.0) ... the Mids were also #11 in the Patriot League and #2 in the PL in clearing percentage (88.5)
• Navy's defense held #10 Army to a single goal in the opening half and just one goal over the final 17-plus minutes of the contest en route to a 9-4 victory in the Star Game
• The Mids held Army to just four goals, its lowest goal output since losing to Loyola 13-4 in the 2017 Patriot League Championship Game
• It was also the fewest goals scored by Army in an Army-Navy Game (Star Game or otherwise) since the Mids beat the Black Knights 8-4 on April 11, 2009
• Anchored a defensive effort that held #15 Loyola (April 17) scoreless for the first 11+ minutes of the game as Navy raced out to a 6-0 lead ... also held the Greyhounds to just one shot and without a goal over the last 4:59 of the game to secure the program's first win over Loyola in Baltimore
• Part of a defensive unit that held Mount St. Mary's scoreless for the first 37-plus minutes of the game, while Navy jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Mids gave up just 3 even-strength goals in the 8-5 win to open the season
• Navy's defense held Jacksonville scoreless for nearly 25 minutes (24:19) as the Mids went on a 9-0 run in the second and third quarters ... after giving up 5 goals over the first 23:11, Navy's defense held the Dolphins to a single goal over the final 36:49
• Part of a Navy defense that held Bucknell scoreless for better than 10 minutes as the Mids went on a 5-0 run and broke a 6-6 tie in the third quarter to take the lead for good ... Griffin recorded a career-high 3 caused turnovers
• The Mids held Lafayette without a goal for three incredible stretches ... after the Leopards took a 5-4 lead at 11:38 in the second quarter, Lafayette did not score for 13 minutes, allowing Navy to go on a 6-0 run and build a 10-5 lead at the half ... the Leopards scored the first 2 goals of the third quarter, but would find the back of the net just once over a 25-minute timeframe with a pair of 12-plus minute droughts (12:33 3Qtr - 1:39 4Qtr / 1 goal at 0:01 3Qtr)


Coach William H. "Dinty" Moore Award • Presented to Navy's Outstanding Offensive Player
• 2021 Recipient - Christian Daniel (Sr / A)
• 2021 Navy Lacrosse Co-Captain
• 2021 Second-Team All-Patriot League
• A starter in 39 of the 40 games (12 of 13 Fr // 13 So // 5 Jr // 9 Sr) he played in during his career, he scored a point (G or A) in 38 contests (Loyola, Syracuse 2019) and a goal in 35
• Closed out his career ranked 20th on Navy's all-time scoring leader board with 122 points after joining the list on April 3, 2021 with his hat trick against Loyola (goal at 14:07 in 3rd Qtr was his 100th point) ... he is the 36th player in program history to reach 100 career points
• He also holds the #20 spot on Navy's career goals leader board with 76, joining the list following a 2-goal effort in his final collegiate game (Loyola, May 4)
• He leaves the program also ranked among several Navy career and single-season lists for Patriot League game statistics - #1 in career points (78), #2 in career goals (50), #5(T) in career assists (28), #3(T) in career extra-man goals, #5 and #8 in single-season points (27 in 2019, 23 in 2021) and #4 and #5 in single-season goals (19 in 2019, 16 in 2018)
• Recorded 12 extra-man goals over his career (5 Fr // 4 So // 1 Jr // 2 Sr), while dealing out 7 assists ... 6 of the 7 assists were in 2021, as he was involved in 8 of Navy's 13 (61.5) extra-man goals (2G, 6A)
• Led the Mids in scoring with 31 points on a team-best 16 goals and a team-high 15 assists ... 23 (12G, 11A) of his 31 points were in Patriot League contests
• Ranked #37 in the country and #7 in the Patriot League in assists per game (1.67) and was #60 in the nation and #8 in the league in points per game (3.44)
• Finished the year with the team's longest active point-scoring streak (15 gms) that dated back to the 2019 finale against Boston U. ... during that streak, he posted 56 points on 29 goals and 27 assists and totaled multiple points in 13 of those 15 contests
• Member of the Mids' extra-man offense that converted 13 goals on 30 opportunities (43.3) which ranked #13 nationally and #1 in the Patriot League along with Boston U. ... played a role in 8 of Navy's 13 extra-man goals (2G, 6A)


Lt. Brendan Looney Award • Presented to that player who leads by example, displays mental and physical toughness and shows dedication to his teammates
• 2021 Recipient - Joe deLyra (Sr / M)
• Began the season as a member of the scout team before emerging as a contributor in mid-April
• He played the game of his career in leading the Mids to a 9-4 victory over Army in the Star Game ... scored his first points of the season by leading the Mids with his first-collegiate hat trick (on 5 shots)
• All 3 goals came at pivotal points of the game ... scored the first game's first goal (7:14, 1Qtr) with less than 5 seconds remaining on the shot clock ... after a big hit by teammate Michael Foster jarred the ball loose in front of the Army cage, he picked the loose ball up and scored his second of the day to give Navy a 5-2 lead (7:05, 2Qtr) ... his 15-yarder with 5:10 to go in the fourth triggered a 3-goal run by the Mids and put the game away


Vice Adm. E.C. Waller Award • Presented to that player who displays spirit, morale and dedication
• 2021 Recipient - Donovan Murphy (Sr / D)
• A four-year member of the team, he saw action in 4 contests, including the Lafayette and Loyola (May 4) games to close out the year
• A team-first player, who embodies those characteristics of a great teammate - selfless, resilient, holds himself and those around him accountable and a leader


Finally, to the Class of 2021, we bid you Fair Winds and Following Seas ...

Members of Navy's Class of 2021
Joe Byrne - Surface Warfare / USS Halsey (DDG 97)
Christian Daniel - Naval Officer
Joe deLyra - Surface Warfare / USS Decatur (DDG 73)
Jeff Durden - Marine Corps Ground
Michael Foster - Navy Pilot
Nick Franchuk - Naval Officer
Tim Griffin - Navy Pilot
Jacob Mandish - Navy Pilot
Andrew McKenna - Surface Warfare / USS The Sullivans (DDG 68)
Colin Meehan - Navy Pilot
Donovan Murphy - Navy Pilot
Tyler Perreten - Navy Pilot
Spencer Rees - Surface Warfare / USS Halsey (DDG 97)
John Salcedo - Submarines
Logan Spilker - Surface Warfare / USS Anchorage (LPD 23)

### Go Navy ###