Navy men's lacrosse players
Christian Daniel (Owings, Md.),
Nick Franchuk (Southport, Conn.) and
Spencer Rees (Baltimore, Md.) have been named to the 2021 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division I Scholar All-America Team presented by Dynamic.
To be eligible for the award, the successful candidate must have reached his senior year academically, while also earning All-America honors, be a member of the North/South All-Star Team or be an outstanding player within his conference.
Daniel, who earned his third CoSIDA Academic All-District certificate earlier this summer, achieved a 3.84 grade-point average in astrophysics and has been placed on the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration. A 2021 Naval Academy graduate with distinction, he was ranked among the top 3 percent of his class (1,107 students) in overall order or merit and the top 14 percent in academic order of merit, while he stood No. 1 in the class in military order of merit. He was named to the Commandant's List all eight semesters in his four-year stay in Annapolis, while being selected to the Superintendent's List seven times.
A starter in 39 of the 40 contests in which he played over his career including each of the last 28, Daniel closed out the 2021 campaign as the team's leading scorer with 31 points on a team-best 16 goals and 15 assists. A 2021 Second-Team All-Patriot League selection, the Mids' co-captain 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 point in 13 of those 15 contests. He closed out his career ranked 20th on Navy's all-time scoring leader board with 122 points after joining the list on April 3 with his hat trick against Loyola. Additionally, he stands 20th on the Mids' all-time goals scored list with 76, etching his name into the record book following his two-goal performance in his final collegiate game against Loyola in the 2021 Patriot League Tournament. 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).
Franchuk graduated in May with a degree in history, earning a 3.74 GPA over his four years of study in Annapolis. He stood among the top 17 percent of his class in overall order of merit and the top 21 percent in academic order of merit. He garnered Commandant's List mention all eight semesters at the Academy, while being named to the Dean's List six times and the Superintendent's List twice.
A starter at close defense in each of his last 20 contests (last 6 gms of '19, 5 gms in '20, 9 gms in '21), Franchuk paced the team with 11 caused turnovers this past spring and finished his career tied for 14th on the Mids' all-time takeaways list with 24. One of the most respected players on the roster, he was 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.
Meanwhile, Rees achieved his biggest success both on and off the field during the 2020-21 academic year. He garnered USILA Scholar All-America kudos after putting forth his best two semesters in the classroom with a 3.64 GPA in the fall and a 3.50 GPA in the spring. He received his diploma having amassed a 2.99 cumulative GPA as a political science major. He was named to both the Commandant's and Dean's List in each of his last two semesters.
As a first-year starter, Rees garnered All-America honors this spring via the USILA (honorable mention), USA Lacrosse Magazine (third team) and Inside Lacrosse (honorable mention) and was also named the 2021 Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year. He closed out the season with a 9.88 goals-against average that stood 16th nationally, while his 58.9 save percentage is #3 and his 14.00 saves per game ranked fifth.
Franchuk and Rees helped anchor a squad that boasted the nation's 11th-best scoring defense (10.00 GPG), while their man-down unit stopped 20 of the 29 extra-man opportunities (69.0) to rank 23rd.
### Go Navy ###
