ROCHESTER, NY – The Empire 8 announced its Men's Lacrosse All-Conference team with senior attack Ryan Hotaling of Nazareth College being named the 2007 Empire 8 Men's Lacrosse Player of the Year and senior goalie Dennis Butler of Ithaca College being selected 2007 Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year.

Freshman attack Erinn O'Hara of Nazareth earned Rookie of the Year honors. He has scored 24 goals entering the postseason. Rob Randall was chosen as Coach of the Year for leading the Golden Flyers to the conference title and a berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.

Hotaling, who received first-team all-conference recognition for the third year in a row, has totaled 31 goals and 19 assists in just 13 games. He scored five times in the conference title game as Nazareth edged top-seeded Ithaca 16-14.

Butler, who was named to the first team all-conference team for the fourth consecutive time and was named the conference's first Goalkeeper of the Year, has recorded a 14-3 record with a .612 save percentage.

Amidon, a second-team honoree last year, was the only player other than Hotaling from Nazareth to be named to the first team after scoring 32 goals and adding 19 assists.

Four Ithaca players in addition to Butler were named to the all-conference first team. Junior attack Matt Nelligan repeated on the first team after pacing the Bombers with 56 goals and 74 points. Junior midfielder Craig Lepiane (40 goals), junior long-stick midfielder Brandon Rose (106 ground balls), and sophomore defenseman Neth Weidemann (25 caused turnovers) were all named to the first team for the first time.

Four players from third-place Rochester Institute of Technology garnered first-team honors this season, including junior repeat selections Andrew Ruocco (midfielder; 24 goals) and defenseman Jacob Tuller (45 ground balls). Senior attack Scott Farress, who leads the Tigers with 45 goals was named to the first team for the first time as was junior Jacob Brunner, who became the initial short-stick specialist to be named all-conference.

Senior midfielder Pat McCormack (24 goals, 43 ground balls) and junior defender Ryan Welch of Hartwick College (44 ground balls) were named to the first team.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2007 Men's Lacrosse Sportsman of the Year Team. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.

First Team All-Conference
Scott Farress Sr. RIT Attack
Ryan Hotaling Sr. Nazareth Attack
Matt Nelligan Jr. Ithaca Attack
Chad Amidon Sr. Nazareth Midfielder
Craig Lepiane Jr. Ithaca Midfielder
Pat McCormack Sr. Hartwick Midfielder
Andrew Ruocco Jr. RIT Midfielder
Brandon Rose Jr. Ithaca Long-Stick Midfielder
Jacob Brunner Jr. RIT Short-Stick Specialist
Jacob Tuller Jr. RIT Defense
Ryan Welch Jr. Hartwick Defense
Neth Wiedemann So. Ithaca Defense
Dennis Butler Sr. Ithaca Goalie

Second Team All-Conference
Lee Austin Sr. Hartwick Attack
Matt Hargather Sr. St. John Fisher Attack
Eric Pritchard Sr. RIT Attack
Wes Adam Jr. RIT Midfielder
Kevin Bush Jr. Ithaca Midfielder
Trevor Hoselton Sr. RIT Midfielder
Jarrett Moffitt Sr. Alfred Midfielder
Phil Davenport Jr. RIT Long-Stick Midfielder
Francis Donald Sr. Nazareth Long-Stick Midfielder
Dave Wood So. St. John Fisher Short-Stick Specialist
Chris Bulawa Jr. RIT Defense
Ryan Conley Sr. Nazareth Defense
Pete Schick Jr. Ithaca Defense
Pat Mullin Sr. Nazareth Goalie

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2007-05-02