Several Members of Albany Men’s Lacrosse Team Earn End of Season Honors
Posted on July 05 2018
For much of the season, Albany's lacrosse team was one of if not the best team in the nation. Entering the NCAA tournament, they appeared to be in great shape for a run at the national title. But their title dreams were cut short in the semifinal round by the eventual champions, the Yale Bulldogs.
The team didn’t get to end the season with the hardware everyone wanted. However, several players saw their efforts on and off the field honored and deemed award-worthy.
Senior Kyle McClancy earned 2017-18 America East Man of the Year honors. The award was in recognition of his accomplishments on an off the field. He finished his final season in college with 29 goals, 19 assists and 36 ground balls in 19 starts in the first midfield.
His play over the course of the season helped the team earn its first trip to Championship Weekend (NCAA tournament). It also helped him earn second-team All-American honors along with America East All-Conference first team.
In the classroom, he earned a 3.93 GPA while studying business management and finance. This helped him earn America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete honors along with the Man of the Year award. McClancy was also active in the community. He engaged in charity work with the team and on his own.
“Kyle McClancy is an outstanding example of what it means to be a Great Dane,” Albany athletics director Mark Benson said. “…. His exceptional performance on the lacrosse field, along with his commitment to academic excellence and community service are strong reflections of those values. Kyle is a worthy recipient of this prestigious award, and we are all very proud of him. He is an outstanding ambassador for the University at Albany and the America East Conference."
He recently made his pro lacrosse debut with the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse.
McClancy was also honored for his classwork along with Connor Fields and Troy Ruh by being named a USILA Scholar All-American. Fields and Reh studied business; Fields earned a 3.35 GPA, and Reh earned a 3.39.
After finishing the season with the second-highest point total in Division I history (364), Field was named a first-team USILA All-American.
To round out the awards, three players were named Presidential Scholar-Athlete Award winners this season for their work and effort as student-athletes—Kyle McClancy, Josh Egan, and AJ Kluck.
Egan earned a 3.96 GPA while studying business and earned a slew of other awards as well. He was the America East Elite 18 recipient and the NCAA Elite 90 recipient for men’s lacrosse. He was also named an America East All-Academic and CoSIDA Academic All-District.
Kluck also studied business and earned a GPA of 3.85.
Winning a national championship would have been an excellent way for these guys to cap off their college careers. But being honored for their hard work and effort away from the field makes for a pretty decent finale.